Are you foolish and accident prone when handling hot and spicy peppers? We've all heard the stories about forgetting to wear gloves or wash your hands while cutting jalapeno peppers and then rubbing your eyes. You must be careful when cutting and handling hot peppers. They don't only burn your mouth, tongue, and lips when eaten, but they can cause a heat induced reaction anywhere when you least expect it.
I witnessed a crazed pepper reaction at Spadafora's last summer. The kitchen stood still, everyone on edge wondering, while the boss stepped aside fearful that he was experiencing a heart attack.
On the cooking line you sweat. When surrounded by broiling ovens, hot oil, and heat lamps, you become accustomed to the sauna like feeling of a restaurant kitchen.
But I noticed something unusual about the way my boss, the fry cook, was sweating towards the end of the dinner rush one night. The left side of his chest, around his heart, stood a huge wet spot. Was he lactating? I hoped not. No where else on his shirt was drenched like that spot. He slowed down, a startled and unsure look overtook his face, and soon enough he needed to leave the line.
My boss feared he was having a heart attack. His right arm tingled, his chest was burning and sweating around his heart, and perhaps all that yelling, swearing, and 100% craziness finally caught up to him in old age.
Luckily before calling 911, he discovered a melted half-bitten Tabasco pepper in his chest pocket. He had taken a bite of the pepper, from the side garden outside the restaurant, in the morning. Being a busy man, he put the pepper in his pocket for later. With the hectic day he forgot about the pepper as it melted and oozed out onto his chest resulting in the heart attack esque feeling.
Be careful how you handle peppers. And never put a pepper in your pocket.
Have you mishandled hot peppers and suffered for your negligence?
One time in a college astronomy class, there was a fire drill and the science building was evacuated, Once outside I noticed a small garden with red, orange, yellow, and purple peppers. I noticed a young woman walking through the garden, I said to her, "Wow, never seen a purple pepper before...", and she said, "yeah, they are up for grabs, this one looks ripe"... I plucked a vibrant purple pepper and took a bite..."Is it spicey?", she asked me. "No" I said... "Well did you bite into the seed?" She asked. "Um... No not yet", and at that I took a big bite right for the middle. Big mistake. "Yeah, the seeds are the spicey part"... "Thanks a lot lady!", and I scrambled back inside, mouth growing hotter every second. I put a solid 5 minutes at the water fountain before heading back to class, mouth still on fire. They say their pretty colors are to intimidate their predators, well, lesson learned.
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