My Common Sense Was My Stupidity
Did you know that water does not go on an oil fire? Because I sure didn’t! Turns out, when you put water on a fire that is fueled by oil, it just gets bigger. A LOT bigger! Who knew?
Well, everybody else knew, except me. Which is okay. I just want to testify that sometimes ignorance isn’t always bliss.
Story Time
It all started when I was 11 years old. My younger sister was making chips from small tortillas by frying them into an oil-filled pot. Nothing that we could not handle and nothing that we hadn’t done several times before.
Being kids of a single parent got us on the fast track to learning how to cook at an earlier age. However, there were still things to learn. Specifically, for yours truly.
Anyway, as she was cooking the oil, it unexpectedly caught fire. Which can abruptly happen. So as this first-time experience was happening, my older sister, being wise in this department of chaos, took a damp rag and started carefully covering the fire to smother it with a lack of oxygen.
Me( looking at the slow, unusual method of putting out the fire), decided that there was a better way. So as she was doing her best to take care of the fire which much determination and focus. I (behind the scenes), was getting a giant mixing bowl and was filling it with water.
I then went up behind her as she was getting closer to being finished and carefully maneuvered the water so it did not spill anywhere else I did not want it to go(hahaha). I then proceeded to tip the bowl. Now with a couple of seconds in between my gesture of tipping the bowl and the water hitting the oil fire, my sisters bolted for the front door making it outside to safety. As for me……BOOM! I was on the floor as oil spewed onto my body as the flames shot across the ceiling of the kitchen. Getting severe burns on small portions of my body. It sucked!
Now, in the end, everything and everybody was okay. My smart siblings were not hurt and the house did not get burned down. It was a miracle and I am extremely grateful, but I learned a couple of important lessons.
Lesson #1
DO NOT PUT WATER ON AN OIL FIRE! It does not do what you may think. I have the scars to prove it.
If an oil fire starts from your cooking ventures, here are things you should do. If you are able.
- Cover the fire with a metal lid or anything nonflammable that can completely cut off the oxygen feeding the fire.
- Turn of the heat source
- If it is manageable, you can also use baking soda or salt to smother the fire.
- As a final resort, you can extinguish the fire with a Class B dry chemical fire extinguisher.
In the end, water can not physically mix with oil. The constructs of the 2 liquids do not allow it. So when someone puts water on oil that is already on fire, the oil moves as a result of it rejecting the water causing the fire to move with it, making it bigger.
I may be experienced uniquely, but by no means am I an expert on everything. Do more research to be more prepared. These are just helpful tips you can do to avoid any extra danger or serious injury. There is always more to learn.
It is a simple concept, but if you do not know, you cannot do anything about it. So make sure people know. Not sure why I didn’t, but I knew by the end of the 7th grade school year because after people saw that I was burned, everybody made sure to let me know.
Lesson #2
Thinking that we know, does not mean that we do.
Sometimes we are aligned with knowing the truth, other times we are not. We must allow ourselves to be wrong.
When I was getting that mixing bowl filled with water, I was in the wrong. I did not think what I was doing would become a problem. As an 11-year-old, I was just experienced with putting water on fire after a cookout, and mixing oil, cake mix, water, and whatever else goes into baking a cake from a box. Experiences that contributed to me thinking I knew.
In those instances I did know, but like I mentioned there was more to know.
Giving us opportunities to be wrong enhances the chances to learn and to progress. When we act like we know everything we create a damn in our river of progression. After all, when you act like you know everything, what incentive do you have to learn more? Nothing! You “know” everything.
Now, am I saying that it is impossible to know the truth? No. There are things that people are right about in life. It is possible to know something. When you find truth cling to it. Have confidence in it. I am just saying there is more truth to learn that is connected to things you already may know. Besides, the more opportunities one gives his or herself to be wrong the better chance they have to know what is right.
I know it may be a weird concept, but point is, do not act like you know everything. For there is much more to learn in this beautiful existence. Be like Socrates and embrace your ignorance. For it will give you the chance to know the secrets of the universe.
