We've all got our little pet peeves. A vital part of life is learning not to fly off the handle when somebody does something that annoys us.
That includes learning not to shoot your grandson in the leg for putting a cup of tea on your furniture, like one 75-year-old American woman is accused of doing.
Helen Washington allegedly became so annoyed with her grandson repeatedly ignoring her requests for him to remove his cup that she produced a weapon and shot him in his thigh. Not exactly a Werther's Original, is it?
She is now facing second degree assault charges as a result.
Police arrived at Washington's home in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota last Friday and found that her grandson was in some discomfort in the front garden of the house.
By 'some discomfort', I mean he had been shot in the leg and claimed that his grandma was the person who had done it.
When police searched Washington's home, they discovered that she had a .38 calibre special revolver. They also discovered five ammunition rounds, one of which was spent.
That was all the evidence they needed to make the initial arrest.
When they interviewed her grandson (presumably after some hospital treatment) he revealed that his grandmother became irate when he kept putting his tea cup down on a piece of furniture.
The grandson - who can't be named because he is a minor - then said that she poured the tea out and left the room, only to return shortly afterwards with the revolver.
Upon re-entering the room, she discovered that he had not only poured himself a fresh cup of tea, but also put it back onto the furniture. That's a move he regrets, you'd have to imagine.
According to prosecutors, it was at this point that Washington drew the revolver and shot him in the leg.
Whilst she was being arrested, the police complaint report says Washington allegedly asked where the bullet had struck her son and said that she didn't think she should have to go to jail.
The judge has ordered that she be evaluated to see if she is fit to go to trial.
Her next appearance in court, should she be deemed competent to do so, will be on December 18th. She stands accused of second degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
I mean, there are two lessons to be learned from this. Firstly, try not to get too angry about things that are essentially trivial.
Secondly, if someone tells you to take your tea cup off the goddamn furniture, you take that teacup off the goddamn furniture.
Featured Image Credit: Hennepin County/Google