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Why You Shouldn't Stifle Your Sneeze (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: In a season where colds are rife, holding your nose and closing your mouth might seem like a considerate alternative to an explosive "Achoo!" But doctors have warned of the dangers of such a move after a man was found to have ruptured the back of his throat when attempting to stifle a sneeze. Medics say the incident, which they detail in the British Medical Journal Case Reports, came to light when a 34-year old man arrived in A&E with a change to his voice, a swollen neck, pain when swallowing and a popping sensation in his neck after he pinched his nose to contain an expulsion. The team took scans of the man's neck to investigate and discovered bubbles of air in the tissues at the back of the throat, and in the neck from the base of the skull to halfway down the man's back. That, they say, suggested a tear had occurred at the back of the throat as a result of increased pressure from the stifled sneeze, leading to air collecting in his soft tissues. The authors warn that blocking the nostrils and mouth when sneezing is dangerous, noting that while tearing of the throat tissue is rare, it could result in a ruptured eardrum or even a brain aneurysm.
Sneeze in the inside of your elbow with it placed just above the nose. Whatever doesn't get absorbed by the clothes or arm, will get directed downward. This shouldn't be complicated, but apparently there's enough morons in the world where it needs to be taught. FFS
Life is not for the lazy.
It's.. coffee. Coffee is meant to be made with water around 91is degrees
How you draw an espresso and what you put in your mouth are two very different things. Coffee is drawn at 91 degrees but pretty much as soon as it hits the bottom of the espresso mug it is safe to drink. Coffee made at home by percolator is not put in a pre-heated mug and also cools significantly the moment it is poured. Combine that with the fact that *most* coffee when served at restaurants or coffee shops is closer to 70 degrees when it's handed to you, and you have absolutely zero basis to expect your coffee to be that hot when you get it.
That's the whole reason McDonalds lost. Their coffee was far hotter than any reasonable expectation. You're right, personal responsibility is hard, especially when faced with something unknown and unexpected.
Now if the cup had a fault and burst, or the staff had spilled it on her, sure. Not the case here though.
And yet she spent 8 days in hospital from a cup of coffee which is in history unheard of. It's easy to see why the courts agreed with her that accountability, personal responsibility and expectation was that McDonalds did something very wrong. You simply wouldn't have sustained such an injury at any other restaurant.