Hardly Cause For Celebration

Popped champagne corks can travel at speeds of 50 miles per hour. These traveling missiles can cause serious eye injuries and sometimes loss of vision when they hit the eye after exploding from bottles of sparkling wines. Being aware of this, every precaution should be taken when opening a bottle of the bubbly. First, never shake a bottle of the sparkly. To properly open a bottle, place a towel over the bottle to cover the cork, then firmly grasp the cork. Next, with the bottle pointed at a 45 degree angle and away from everyone, twist the cork slowly until it leaves the bottle, unable to fly because of the towel covering. In this way, a champagne celebration can be just that, and not a trip to the emergency room. Eye injuries associated with incorrect popping of champagne corks can and do lead to potentially devastating consequences, such as detached retina, scarring of the cornea, and acute glaucoma.