"do not put batteries in fire".

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I am at Target right now buying a Colgate electric toothbrush. One of the warnings on the back of the box says not to put the batteries in fire. Looks like we need a warning for that.

Or in the microwave (<-- hope it says this too )

What about "do not swallow these batteries" (<-- that's one of the more painfully obvious ones I see)

Lawyers. They have to print warnings like that so they don't get sued if someone actually does something stupid with the batteries and they end up suing the company because it didn't warn them *not* to do it.

Little kids and people with Pica might swallow them, and then the acid in the batteries could leak out and burn holes inside their body. Pretty scary, actually.

Trust me, out there are many, many people who would think nothing of chucking dead batteries on the fire, right up to the point where one explodes and blinds them or one of their children. Of course, such people are unlikely to bother reading the warning...

I have seen label tags on hair dryers saying "do not use in the tub" and it has a tub full of water in the picture.

And on airplanes where they serve you peanuts, packages say "this product contains nuts."

I mean all these companies have to put in all these dumb warnings and labels to avoid lawsuits.

When we got our son a swing set when he was a toddler for him to grow into, it came with a booklet telling us how to assemble it and the booklet was also telling us how a kid should play on it. It's all about liability and to avoid a lawsuit. People can still try to sue but their warnings will save them lot of money from dumb people.

Even try being a seller online like on ebay, you will run into lot of dumb buyers and they even cost you money because of ebay policies now and will side with the buyer no matter what. So you as the seller gotta learn how to make your titles correctly, how to do a description, more photos of the item you are selling. I have seen words written in all CAPS in descriptions or in the title and also seen "ask me questions before buying" and "if you need more photos, let me know."

I tried selling a Nintendo Switch pro controller on Facebook and I had photos of the darn thing and people were still asking me "is it wireless" when wired controllers and wireless pro controllers look different from each other. But these Nintendo gamers still didn't know. So I added that to my description and I find people still didn't read it because I had a buyer who was interested and at the last minute right before we were gonna meet, he tells me "I'm so sorry, I just read the description, I thought it was wireless, ugh."

I was disappointed and annoyed so I added that to my title changing it too "non wireless Switch pro controller."

Some sellers put in their title "READ" after the item name. But "wired switch Pro Controller" wasn't enough for these buyers.

I can't imagine what it must be like to run a business. I suppose some stupid people will cost them some money if they do returns or do chargebacks. And you will also get dishonest buyers too who will buy something only to play it and then take it back when they beat the game and they use your store as game rental which is why so many of them do exchanges only now. Yes people do actually do this because I have seen them posting about it online and I can't imagine how often Gamestop has to deal with this. They are a big business but small private businesses that sell used games and accessories will not do refunds, exchanges only. But I hear Gamestop may go bankrupt and they are already going to close around 300 locations.

When I was a kid I would do art for school (6th or 7th grade), like charcoal drawings, and then spray them with fixative like Krylon (hairspray would do the same thing).

After preserving some charcoal drawings I had made I look at the can and noticed that it had the warning "do not use around an open flame". So my 12 year old self wondered why, so I went to the fireplace in the basement, lit a candle inside the fireplace, and proceeded to do just what the warning said not to do: which was shoot the spray right through the tiny flame of the candle. And ...it made that tiny little flame a big horinzontal cone shaped BIG flamed that looked cool as hell. I never even would have thought of doing that if I hadnt been warned not to!

I asked couple of brother kids on the block if they wanted to see "how to make a flamethrower". Of course they were eager to see it, and I showed them my hair spray "flamethrower" in the fireplace. And we had hours of fun trying to get my flamethrower to ignite other things...like empty milk cartons we placed into the fireplace. All it did was scorch the targets, and not ignite them. Bummer.

My buddies told their mom, and their mom told my mom, and I got into deep trouble about it. "THAT FIRE COULD HAVE GONE INTO THE CAN AND EXPLODED IN YOUR FACE!! !! !"

On top of that sometime later I realized that what I had "invented" wasnt really a "flamethrower", but just a wimpy blowtorch. And that real military "flamethrowers" dont just spit flame but are actually like hoses then send out a stream of flaming liquid (usually a mix of gasoline and oil) that coats the target in flame. And thats why my thing didnt set that milk carton into flames like it was a tank in a war movie.

Your mom had a point though; pressurised containers of flammable liquids don't do well when combined with fire.

On a carton of eggs: "This product may contain eggs.
On a container of pepper spray: "May irritate eyes."
On a dishwasher: "Do not allow children to play in the dishwasher."
On an electric irom: "Never iron clothes while they are being worn."
On a fireplace: "Caution - Risk of Fire."
On an automobile sunshield: "Do not drive with sunshield in place."
On a child's scooter: "This product moves when used."
On a baby stroller: "Remove child before folding."

Relevant.

..."But how was I to know that the egg-shaped things in the egg-carton would trigger my egg allergy?"

No batteries roasting on an open fire for Christmas then it sounds like.

Curses! Another tradition ruined.