Remember the
McDonald's coffee burns? I thought that was pretty dumb too. Until today.
On the way to work, we stopped for petrochemicals and coffee, as usual. They like to give yo those tall styrofoam cups with a lid, and they aren't too stout. I must have squeezed mine a bit too hard or in the wrong way, because the lid popped off like a Jack-in-the-box and rained coffee all over my lap.
It hurt. Really hurt. My coins were superheated, my stomach red, and I even took some hurt in a strategic location. I had to jump out of the car to recover myself. But like the manly man who just starting a new job that I am, I soldiered on and headed to work.
Tonight I have second degree burns. No kidding. I always expected that the McDonald's case came about because the lady was rather elderly, with the rice paper thin skin that makes many elderly people particularly prone to cuts and bruises. My skin's still pink and hearty. Okay, it's red and blistered, but it wasn't always like that.
Still, I'm not going to sue. The story is worth a couple weeks discomfort. And I won't stop drinking their coffee. At least I know it's hot. I have the blisters to prove it.
Lesson! The cup failed becaue I was holding it too high. Without the base to stiffen it, the cup deformed at the top, shooting off the lid and dousing me with blistering hot coffee. Hold your cups down low.
Update it is now December 2003 and the burns have not completely healed. in fact, they probably never will, leaving me with permanent scars on my abdomen and right inner thigh. Fortunately the strategic parts healed nicely