Put down your three-cheese blast enchilada poppers. Step away from your double fried buffalo hot dog platter. In a clear, transparent case of blatant injustice run amok, it seem you, your food and your beliefs are no longer safe at Applebee’s. Just ask Hiram Jimenez of Westampton, who simply went to Applebee’s to get down on some fajitas. When he got his food, Mr. Jimenez bowed his head to pray, because Heaven is the giver of all good things and we know fajitas are good. Unfortunately, prayer—though often thought of as a place of refuge and safety—became a liability in this instance, in which grease from the sizzling fajitas popped right into Jimenez’s face, burning his cheek.
Being a man of principle as well as prayer, Mr. Jimenez took his case to court, saying his Applebee’s waitress did not warn him that his sizzling hot fajitas were actually hot. Yes. A true injustice. How was Jimenez supposed to know his fajitas were hot? Applebee’s has dozens of menu items, and one can’t be expected to know everything about them, or take in every single detail, visual cue and nudge of common sense. Alas, a trial judge has ruled that Jimenez will not be able to sue, since a waitress is not legally obligated to warn a customer “against a danger that is open and obvious.” So the cruelty of Big Fajita reigns yet another day…
