# I would rip this apart, but it's just doo damn pathetic. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 26, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137 "2003-12-26T17:18:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sweetums](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Sweetums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweetums)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/41 "2003-12-27T16:59:57Z")
Oooookay Kantalooppi ``` Was that supposed to make sense or something. ``` :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/42 "2003-12-27T17:22:21Z")
Hey, **spogga** , when I was a kid, I drank anti-freeze, set a tent on fire in Boy Scouts, cut my finger off in a door, tried to jump from a moving bike onto a tree branch, tried the Indiana Jones “crawl under a moving car” thing…and I lived. I’m a little strange, but alive. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/43 "2003-12-27T17:28:35Z")
**Sweetums** , **Kantalooppi** was capitalizing on a funny typo in the thread title. Heehee. Doo damn! ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/44 "2003-12-27T19:03:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pugluvr \* > \*\ ***Sweetums** , **Kantalooppi** was capitalizing on a funny typo in the thread title. > > Heehee. Doo damn! \*\* Whoa! I didn’t do that one!! :dubious: Damned pesky keyboards. :smack: Tripler Must’ve happened when the threads got merged. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/45 "2003-12-27T21:28:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Superdude \* > **Too bad Dennis Miller’s off the air. After hearing his thoughts on the McDonald’s coffee woman (“It’s COFFEE! Of course it’s going to be hot. Why didn’t you blow on it before you chugged it like a pledge at a frat party?”)** [rant]Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent, but for some reason it really irritates me when I hear ignorant people rail on Stella Whatsherface for the coffee lawsuit. The issue was not that the coffee was hot, and hurt her. The issue was that it was _much_ hotter than coffee should be–hotter than you would get anywhere else, whether you went to Burger King or Starbucks or a local coffeeshop (or, probably, brewed your own)–and instead of just hurting, it did permanent damage to her legs and genitalia that coffee should not be able to do. Had she spilled a normal cup of coffee on her legs, she would not have suffered the kind of permanent burn damage she suffered from the excessively (unsafely) hot McDonald’s coffee. It’s not that the coffee was hot. It’s that the coffee was much hotter than it should’ve been for safety’s sake–much hotter than what one would expect from a cup of hot coffee. Yes, it’s her fault she spilled it. But they shouldn’tve made the coffee that hot. It didn’t need to be that hot.[/rant] ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/46 "2003-12-29T16:53:04Z")
All of that may be true, **fetus** , and IIRC the Mickey D’s in question had been warned about this problem repeatedly over a multi-year period. But that doesn’t change the underlying, monstrous stupidity of inserting a very hot liquid - whether ~180F or a more-typical ~160F - between one’s legs. A vendor or manufacturer should not be responsible for a user’s stupidity, _regardless of how predictable that stupidity might be_. Sadly, that’s not the direction in which the law has turned. ---
**Author:** ![dav01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dav01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dav01)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/47 "2003-12-30T17:04:39Z")
[hijack] > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by OxyMoron:_ > A vendor or manufacturer should not be responsible for a user’s stupidity, regardless of how predictable that stupidity might be. Sadly, that’s not the direction in which the law has turned. True, but McDonald’s wasn’t really being held responsible for Stella’s stupidity, but for the corporation’s callous attitude toward their customers. The lawsuit was bound to happen sooner or later-if it wasn’t Stella contributing to the injury by holding the cup between her knees, it could have been someone slipping on the wet restaurant floor. [http://www.vanfirm.com/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit.htm](http://www.vanfirm.com/mcdonalds-coffee-lawsuit.htm) Evidently it was the severity of the burns suffered by Stella, coupled with the company’s blase attitude, that struck the jurors. Incidentally, the punitive damages award was eventually reduced to $480,000. [http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm](http://lawandhelp.com/q298-2.htm) [/hijack] As far as the OP goes, c’mon, lady, the kid was just being a kid. Growing up is all about cuts and scrapes. How am I supposed to know I can’t jump through a moving swing if I don’t try? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2003, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/48 "2003-12-30T18:42:10Z")
Let’s not forget _why_ McDonald’s chose to implement the “absurdly hot coffee policy.” By maintaining that dangerously high temperature, they were able increase their profit margin by using substandard beans. If the coffee were served at the usual temperature, customers would be able to _taste_ the coffee, and the company would have to spend more on decent beans, or suffer loss of sales. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/49 "2003-12-31T17:01:53Z")
Starbucks / McDonalds / Hot Coffee…How ironic. I think the link and headline [**Woman Files $10M Suit Vs. Starbucks**](http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-bzstar303605411dec30,0,5939727.story?coll=ny-business-print), that was on the wires yesterday, speaks for itself. > [@](#): > > Before McDonald’s lost its 1994 case, more than 700 people burned by its coffee made claims. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/50 "2003-12-31T20:19:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by World Eater \* > \*\*I predict in 20 years that children will wear bubblewrap and football helmets. \*\* Sorry, WE…already been there and done that…except we would through dirt clods, rocks, oranges and lemons at each other when they would trench new housing tracts…30 years AGO… My brother and I were pioneers when it came to childhood trench warfare…😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/51 "2003-12-31T20:20:13Z")
through = throw:smack: ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137/52 "2004-01-01T05:11:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tripler \* > \*\*[My problem.](http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/12/26/toddlers.claim.ap/index.html) > > snip Seeking _lost wages_? snip > \*\* Seeking _lost wages_? I’m right here, fergoodnesssake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-rip-this-apart-but-its-just-doo-damn-pathetic/221137.md?page=2)