Trust your Spidey Sense

I did a stupid thing a few days ago.

It was early morning, and I was getting ready for my conference call; one where I’d be presenting to over 30 people. 

I went through the usual routine. Got my laptop set up, switched on the Nespresso machine and placed my latte on the desk. I also went to fetch water, as I was mindful of keeping hydrated in the morning. As an aside, it sucks that coffee is a diuretic!

This morning was unusually cold, though, and I decided to have warm water instead. So I switched on the kettle, being mindful not to let it go on for too long and boil the water.

I thought I was being mindful.

I came out of my dining room (now office) and turned it off. While juggling thoughts of my upcoming call, I had a split second decision to make: a mug or a tall glass? In the back of my mind, I thought a mug would be better cuz I always put hot things in mugs. I always sip from mugs but guzzle from glasses. But then again, it wasn’t gonna be that hot, right? So a tall glass would suffice, I’m sure. This all literally took place in my head for all of a second.

I poured the water into the glass, ignoring the steam rising from it. Here’s the stupid part: because the glass was so thick, it hadn’t yet absorbed the heat from the water. So when I picked it up, I assumed it was a drinkable temperature since the glass was still cool. 

My mind was still thinking about the call when I absentmindedly started downing the water, chugging it like I would a glass of cold water. 

Except it was boiling. Hot. Searing. Burning.

I never felt that sensation in my life. Spitting out the water, I got it all over my outer lower lip, down my chin, onto my clothes. My tongue was throbbing, as was the roof of my mouth and searing pain down the back of my throat. 

Holy hell.

That was a huge lesson for me. Sometimes in life we experience situations where there’s this little voice inside your head, knocking it and goes, “Uh, hello?! Stop juggling multiple things for a moment and focus on this, right here, right now...”

This time I didn’t listen to that voice, and nearly three days later, I’m still paying for it. Ugh. Don’t be like me. Listen to your gut, your Spidey senses. Everybody has them. Tune into them and don’t ignore them. 

Otherwise, you’ll get burned. Literally.