By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
I am always amused when I read stories about people who get upset over the consequences of something they caused.
Most people probably have heard about the lawsuit McDonald’s faced years ago when a customer spilled coffee on herself. If I remember correctly, she won the case.
Just recently, a woman in Charlotte, N.C. claimed she suffered second degree burns after she spilled chili from Wendy’s on herself.
News flash: chili and coffee are supposed to be served hot. If you spill it on yourself, it will burn.
According to the news report of the chili spill, the food and drug administration maintains that hot foods should be kept at an internal temperature of 140 degrees. The story reports the woman thinks it was much hotter, but I doubt she took its temperature at the time of the spill. Merely conjecture on her part.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sorry she burned herself. I have spilled hot liquid on myself. It burns and it hurts. But, ultimately, I was the cause of the problem. Therein lies the problem with society today. It always is someone else’s fault. Too many people today do not want to accept the consequences of their actions.
Had this woman gotten home without spilling the chili and it was not hot, she probably would have been upset. Cold chili is not very appetizing.
I will give his woman credit. In the story she says she “does not want any damages that I can think of.” She says her desire in sharing the story is that the restaurant will make sure the chili is served at the proper temperature.
Better yet, just don’t spill it. You will have more to eat and you won’t get burned.
