I used a used toothpick
I was recently in New York and went to an upscale grocery store of the kind that has lots of samples of food in little displays, with containers of toothpicks nearby for the customer to use to spear the delicacies.
Olives, pickled vegetables, crackers, and infinitesimal cubes of cheese that are so tiny it takes some skill to hook one. But I was determined. I took a toothpick from a plastic container, stabbed a cheese tidbit or two, ate them (they were pretty good, and I was hungry), and then looked for a place to throw out the used toothpick.
It was only then that I noticed a second plastic container just like the first one, only the toothpicks in the second were placed in a slightly more orderly and less haphazard fashion than in the first. Oh-oh! I had apparently taken a toothpick from the “used” bin (nearly indistinguishable from the “unused” bin), and re-used it.
Can I sue?
I was once eating in a buffet, got up to pick out a desert. Sat down again and started using the utensils and realized I sat at the wrong table and was using someone else’s used silver ware in front of their mostly eaten food.
Urg. I also once went into the desert to eat a dessert!
As long as you steer clear of the used toilet paper, you should be okay.
One can always sue. One may not always win.
Sue for sexual harassment, everyone is doing it. I’d stay clear of the Alread and daughter though.
Sure, if the bin was not clearly labeled–in English and Spanish–“used toothpicks; use at your own risk”.
But, as Gordon says.
On the other hand we have no way of knowing what goes on in restaurant kitchens, and so on. Better not to even think of it.
Ewwww!
I was in a long business meeting, drinking a can of diet coke I had brought. After quite a few swigs I noticed lipstick on the can. I looked over at the woman to my right and realized our cans had gotten switched at some point!
Ewwwww!
You went to law school so you already know the answer: yes you can sue. If you want to win you have to show damages, so perhaps if you came down with some dread disease from the used toothpick you could sue. Probably not worth contracting a dread disease though lol.
Neoneocon, it is a matter of situational awareness. You failed bigly and YUGE! 😉
RigelDog Says:
December 11th, 2017 at 9:06 pm
You went to law school so you already know the answer: yes you can sue. If you want to win you have to show damages, so perhaps if you came down with some dread disease from the used toothpick you could sue. Probably not worth contracting a dread disease though lol.
* * *
I subscribe to a newsletter for food recalls because there are so many going on now, and in most cases the consumers are the last people contacted by the government (sad but true). These include alerts for food borne illnesses primarily passed by workers.
A big thing now is the huge outbreaks of Hepatitis A in several states, from restaurants and grocery stores.
You don’t know whose germs were sitting in that toothpick container (which should have been labelled clearly, or an obvious wastebasket provided).
If you get some symptoms of anything in the next month, sue the ‘picks off them.
I must concur with my learned friend, RigelDog, on this one.
As a law school graduate yourself, Neo, I know you are all too well aware of Donoghue v Stevenson (1932) and the thrust of the “Atkinian neighbour test” that would eventually see you through to victory.
I also know you’re sensible enough to know how fortunate you are that it was only a pre-nibbled tooth pick and not a snail’s entrails you were nibbling on.
Like all highly intelligent people you keep things in perspective so your damages would not be high but at least, since your tortfeasor was a deli, we could negotiate you a whole bottle of peppercorns as a settlement rather than just the traditional single one.
All of the stores that I go to that have the food tasting stations have small trash bins by the side.
My reaction to picking up a used toothpick would have been to go to the store manager to mention the hazard. I have sought out section managers to mention issues with the store and most are thankful to get the info before anyone goes to their boss.
Just curious – how many people use the handwipes by the store entrance to clean the handle of the grocery cart? Last time there was a huge flu season, many stores & restaurants had the hand sanitizer stations by their front entrances.
Rufus, beat me to it. EWWWW!
Stephen, could you please explain the ‘peppercorn’ reference? I have heard of ‘peppercorn rent’.
Liz, LOVE the handwipes, why ever did it take so long?
Molly B,
Mea culpa.
Sorry about not elaborating on the peppercorns sooner but you seem to have gotten to the heart of it already.
In “common law” countries, which are those countries that inherited their legal system from the British, it is traditional to refer to merely “nominal” or minimal values as “peppercorns” – hence a minimal or nominal rent is, as you say, a peppercorn rent;
Likewise, if a party wins in court, (say for nibbling on a tiny pre-chewed stick of wood because one couldn’t tell readily that it had been pre-chewed and this reasonably foreseeable risk wasn’t flagged ahead of time to the unsuspecting nibbler), the nibbler will be awarded “damages” which is basically compensation for the loss or the pain they suffered through the legal wrong (called a tort).
Where the nibbler suffers only nominal/minimal harm – because they are well adjusted – the amount of their damages/compensation will be reflected in the award to them of only a nominal or peppercorn amount.
Traditionally, a single peppercorn would be handed over and then in later centuries judges ordered damages be paid in the amount of the smallest coin in the realm to reflect a technical breach of the law but no real loss to the complaining party.
Sorry about the failure to clarify earlier.
Stephen,
Thanks! That’s what I figured. Appreciate your taking the time to write such a clear and thorough explanation. The things I pick up reading out of date mystery fiction…