DON'T EAT THE PEPPERS: Another afternoon on the block

 

When I got home today I was greeted by one of the young kids on the street.  I was carrying a branch of peppers that I had been given as a gift/decoration and the kid asked if he could have one.  But, he wanted me to try one first to see if it was spicy.  I took a bite off the bottom of a pepper and, in spite of seeing my almost instant reaction to the fire occuring in my face, he tried one, too.

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/hot_pepper_fresno.jpg 

So after about five minutes in the kitchen steadying myself on the counter and trying not to throw up I finally made it back outside with a bottle of water for us to share.  He seemed to have handled it better than I did, though, and soon we were all playing tag and running races.  One of the Dads watching the kids would yell out when a car turned down our street.  Some of the older kids tried to see how close they could get to me without getting tagged; I seemed to be "it" a lot...

In any case, I post this as a warning to all of you starry-eyed "Oh that looks like a delicious little red pepper" potential eaters, because I believe in passing on knowledge and I believe in keeping your tastebuds:
The Fresno chili pepper a cultivar of Capsicum annuum, with bell peppers and other chili peppers. It is similar to the Jalapeño pepper but it is significantly hotter (2500-10000 Scoville units) increasing in heat as it ripens.*

DON'T EAT THE PEPPERS.

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*And they were REALLY ripe.  Oh, and thanks to wikipedia for this quote.