Caribou Coffee Gift Card Giveaway: Coffee and the Law

One person left a comment on the 1^st Giveaway post in November stating that she thought the Giveaways should be law-related. I sent her an email thanking her for her opinion and explaining that Motherly Law is a combination of who I am: attorney and mom. The Giveaways appeal to the mom side of me. However, it got me thinking about connections to the law.

Is there any connection between coffee and the law? Well, there's one that I think of often. One I'm sure you're familiar with too. One that is often mocked, but nonetheless it involves coffee and the law: the McDonald's scalding coffee case.

The Scalding Coffee Case

In that case, the passenger of a car who had ordered coffee from a McDonald's drive-thru spilled the whole cup into her lap as she attempted to hold the Styrofoam cup between her knees while she removed the lid to add cream and sugar while the car was at a complete stop. The passenger suffered third-degree burns over 6% of her body, spending 8 days in the hospital. She sought $20,000 from McDonalds to cover her damages. McDonalds refused. She sued and ended up winning $200,000 in compensatory damages and $480,000 in punitive damages, but then actually settled with McDonalds for an undisclosed amount.

McDonalds admitted keeping its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees to maintain the taste. Other businesses selling coffee generally serve it at much lower temperatures. Coffee made at home is usually 135 to 145 degrees. McDonalds acknowledged that a burn hazard exists with any food or beverage served above 14o degrees, but stated that it had no intention of lowering its coffee temperature.

In the end, McDonalds did add noticeable warnings to its coffee cups and did lower the temperature at which their coffee is served.

Source: http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

Caribou Coffee

This month's Giveaway is a $40 Caribou Coffee Gift Card. Caribou is a place I spend a lot of time. My Caribou is to me what Cheers was to Norm. When I walk in I'm greeted with a, "Hi Anna!" I know all the employees and quite a few of the other regulars. I know who makes the best oatmeal there. And they know exactly how I like my coffee.

For me, a person who works remotely as an Independent Contractor, this place and these people are as close as I get to an office and colleagues. When I was featured in the Star Tribune in November, they cut out the article and put it on the bulletin board for all to see.

On top of the welcoming atmosphere, free Wi-Fi and free refills, the coffee and tea is really good and the hot chocolate is incredible, especially the dark chocolate. According to their website, www.cariboucoffee.com, Caribou is in 21 states. But don't dismay if it's not in yours, you can order online too.

The Rules

Don't delay; get entered right away to win this caffeinated giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment below about your favorite holiday tradition or memory.

Wait, there's more. For additional entries, you can:

• tweet about it
• share it on Facebook
• follow @MotherlyLaw on Twitter
• subscribe to a Motherly Law feed
• Like Motherly Law on Facebook

If you choose to do any of these extra things, just be sure to leave a comment here for each bonus entry, in addition to the original comment.

The Giveaway will end and be randomly selected by www.random.org at 7:00 PM CST on Friday, December 3rd, 2010. I will email the winner at that time.

The Scoop

Good luck to you. Please stick around and check out my interesting posts, if you are new to Motherly Law or just need to get caught up on your reading here. Thanks for stopping by. I will post a bit of Motherly Advice on Friday. Over and out…

Anna

 

Comments

[suzi]

We still need to meet at cafe.com. :)

[suzi]

I follow you on Twitter. :)

[suzi]

I subscribe to your blog. :)

[MommyLisa]

Totally love Caribou - live by HQ - less than a mile!

My favorite thing at the holidays is the first night I come home to our holiday lights all aglow. :)

[MommyLisa]

I subscribe to your blog in google reader.

[MommyLisa]

I follow you on Twitter too.

[MommyLisa]

I tweeted too.

[Heidi]

You know how I feel about Caribou, but I NEED COFFEE and I want to win. My favorite holiday memory is driving around Lake Lucy to look at lights. We've done it every year for about 30 years.

[darcie]

Favorite Holiday Tradition...
Midnight Mass - candelight service.
We haven't done it since we've had kids but I miss it so and am so going to get back into that tradition -

[darcie]

I follow on twitter...

[darcie]

AAAAAANNNNDDD - I'm a facebook fan!

[Kate]

You know I'm all over the webs with you, Anna.

[TLM]

What fun!! One of my favorite memories was as a child when I was beginning to not believe in Santa Claus. We had asked for bicycles that year and they came in big narrow cardboard boxes and it happened to have snowed a good bit that Christmas. So when the bicycles in boxes were brought to house by someone pulling them up the side of the house in the snow, it left what to my young marveling eyes what looked like the marks where Santa had landed in his sleigh! At that moment I was a better believer than ever!

[TLM]

I subscribe to Motherly Law Feed!

[Rose in Ohio]

Our favorite family tradition is attending the 11 pm candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church. I love that when we walk into the quiet, cold night air afterwards, it is officially Christmas morning!

rosemills (at) bex (dot) net

[TJCabrera]

Oh fun! I do follow you on Twitter and I'll go onto Facebook to follow you too! (Because I want to and because..Bonus comment:) My favorite tradition as a child has become my childrens as well. Before my parents awoke, my brother and I could go downstairs and open our stockings. Santa would fill it with enough things so my parents could sleep a little longer :-)

[emily (a nutritionist eats)]

I'm a self-proclaimed Caribou addict so this would come in very handy! :) Favorite tradition is breakfast at my parents Xmas morning, complete with citrus fruits and cookies for dessert!

[Kelli]

One of my favorite memories as a kid was waiting for my Mom to come home from work on Christmas Eve. My Dad would have the day off and we would make Rosettes together. (He never set foot in the kitchen on any other day) Then we would order a pizza, because our HUGE Christmas dinner was on Christmas day.

P.S. LOVE coffee. I subscribe to your feed, "Like" you on FB (I'm sure I would like you in person if we met) twitter, and shared on my FB page!

[emily (a nutritionist eats)]

I tweeted!

[Julie Bradford]

every year we celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve. Th "youngest" always picks the first gift to be opened and even at 35 and being married, this is still my job!

[Kristinlien04]

My favorite holiday tradition is setting up the Christmas tree with my 2 year old daughter and husband the day after Thanksgiving!

[Kristinlien04]

I follow you on twitter! @kristinlien04

[Kristinlien04]

I tweeted about your giveaway! @kristinlien04

[Callie]

My best christmas memory is years of Christmas eve services. Decorating the tree with my family christmas eve afternoon after cutting it down on the 23rd or 24th. A fire in the fireplace and lots of chitchatting and impromtu christmas carol singing.

Thanks for the chance at the giveaway!
(I too am an attorney--and in fact am taking my mid-morning westlaw break to enter your contest)

catherine(dot)alley(at)gmail(dot)com

[Michelle]

We started two new traditions about five years ago. We now have prime rib on Christmas Day instead of a turkey dinner with all the fixings and we sit down in the afternoon to watch White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney.