posted
Chances are, you may not notice the maggots until you take a bite. They'll likely be congregated at the middle of the burger, not at the edges. Unless you open the sucker up and check (which I've been doing since the Jack-in-the-Box and E Coli scare many many years ago), you probably wouldn't notice until you took a bite. One has to wonder about the help though if you can't notice that you're frying a slab of meat with maggots crawling on it.
And, actually, it was a woman who spilled her coffee that resulted in the award of $1 million dollars to her and McDonald's having to put warning labels on its coffee mugs. Let's forget that the woman was in her car and had the obviously hot coffee cup in her lap. : :
And there's the woman (I think, it may be a guy) who's suing McDonalds because a pickle fell out of his burger and landed on his chin causing "permanent disfigurement." : :
quote: which I've been doing since the Jack-in-the-Box and E Coli scare many many years ago
What are you expecting to find? "Aha! Just as I expected! Three bacteria!"
quote: Let's forget that the woman was in her car and had the obviously hot coffee cup in her lap.
As much as I love a good three minute hate directed towards the legal system, we'd also have to forget that she was sitting in the passenger seat of an unmoving car. Which isn't to say that I think a million dollar settlement was justified, but then, there wasn't one awarded. She got 200,000 dollars in damages, reduced to 160,000 because the jury found her partially at fault, and 2.7 million in punitive damages, which were reduced to 480,000.
So, 680,000 dollars. Considering that she sufffered third degree burns over six percent of body (specifically, the genitals and thighs), I don't find it all that outrageous. Coffee is not supposed to be that hot. It isn't that hot when you make it. It isn't that hot in any other restaurant.
Of course, I also seem to recall that the woman and McDonald's made some sort of secret deal after all was said and done, for some undisclosed amount. But that's a decision of the company.
posted
Actually, Sol, I specifically check my food for bugs, hair, etc. and whether or not the meat is fully cooked or not. I tend to be very susceptible to food poisoning. An Ultimate Cheeseburger once made me very sick because (at 8 years old) I foolishly decided to eat it when I knew that the thing wasn't cooked enough. And with the JB E coli scare and the recurring stories about roaches, maggots, bandaids, etc. being discovered in fast food (even if some of it is urban legend), I tend to err on the side of caution.
I stand corrected on the monetary settlement of the McDonalds Coffee case, but I mean coffee is supposed to be hot. It's boiling water mixed with ground and roasted coffee beans. It's going to be hot. Hot liquid splashing about on skin is going to cause burns. Those little styrofoam cups are not going to insulate the heat radiating from the coffee. She obviously had to have touched that cup with her hands first. Unless she had sensory damage to her hand, she knew that the cup of coffee was hot. And she still chose to put it in her lap.
posted
Coffee's not generally meant to be boiling when served. If it was hot enough to cause 3rd degree burns, then it was too hot to be consumed. There is an expectation that fast food is prepared so that it can be consumed immediately. By not pointing out the fact that they will occasionally hand out their coffee at near-boiling temperatures McDicks was being somewhat lazy and inviting accidents like this. They weren't being the antichrist or anything, but I don't think that this was a case of a company being hurt by the stupidity of society. People tend not to be particularly mentally-focussed when eating fast food and shit happens, even to the best of us.
-------------------- "I was surprised by the matter-of-factness of Kafka's narration, and the subtle humor present as a result." (Sizer 2005)
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I agree. That she probably was an idiot, but that she also deserved some kind of compensation. Not compensation of a few hundred thousand dollars though.
Personally, I'd be thrilled if I found magots in my burger. Okay, so it might make me throw up, but I'd get shit loads of money for it. It's a much fairer lottery than most. Even if you don't win, at least you get a burger for your money.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
posted
Erm... If it was hot enough to cause third-degree burns through her clothing over that much of her body, wouldn't it have melted the cup before it had a chance to spill? Aren't third-degree burns the kind of burns you get when you light yourself on fire for extended periods of time?
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Third-degree burns are the least harful, I thought. They only invovled damage to the outer skin layers. First degree burns are the ones that turn you into a human barbeque.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Actually, that's backwards, Liam. First degree burns are minor burns and affect only the outer layers of skin. Next are the second degree burns, and they affect the outer and inner layers of skin. Finally, there are the third degree burns which burn the outer and inner layers of skin plus the underlying muscles tissue. In some cases, the muscle tissue is burned all the way through to the bone. Third degree burns can also cause the vaporization of the outer skin layer which explains why infections are a constant worry for their victims.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
As I understand it, really bad burn injuries kill the victim by destroying the skin so that the water in the flesh leaks out and evaporates, killing the victim through acute dehydration. Especially if the back has been exposed, that's a large portion of rather thin skin...
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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MorphStar
Ex-Member
posted
Can you sue mcDonalds for getting a furby with your hamburger?
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posted
Thanks Jeff. I do also recall that there's an episode of Star Trek where someone apparently suffers "Fourth degree burns". Which probably means "reduced to a skeleton". IIRC, they still survived. Tsk.
I'm confused though as to how you can get third-degree burns from a coffee. Was it heated in a blast furnace?
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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