I agree. The law cannot be applied word by word. If we start doing that each one of us is committing some crime every minute.
This statement is actually not absurd. Well, actually, it is an absurdity, but it's also an accurate description of reality.
I was reading a comment by someone (I believe a law professor and criminal defense lawyer) who rode along with a highway patrolman in the US. They played a game, where the officer would follow a car, and the officer would win if he could name a legitimate traffic offense committed by the car, for which he could pull the driver over if he was so inclined.
The officer won every time, usually within well under a mile.
There are so many laws, and they are so complex, that just about anyone is probably guilty of something if you just look hard enough. Only the thin paper shield of the Constitution (in particular 4th and 5th amendments) is about the only thing that stands between just about anybody in the US and prison.
For more, see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wXkI4t7nuc
Anything in the preceding comments which seems ridiculous has been introduced by the concept of "zero tolerance", which precludes common sense.
Zero means zero. If the rules are enforced as written - arguably as intended - this is what you get. The preceding comments just take the concept to its logical conclusion.