mj2001:
Anyway, I guess my question to the group is whether you think dad overreacted or not? I know I would have just laughed it off but obviously he felt differently.
Well, that was my first reaction too, however it might depend on what "other people's leftovers" means.
If someone has a take-home box containing leftovers from his/her meal at Olive Garden, then those definitely belong to him/her personally, even if 'Dad' paid for the family to eat there. However, what if the food is merely left over from a meal consumed at home, can a particular family member label some of it as his/hers so that nobody else is allowed to eat it later? (My younger sister actually used to do that, I didn't take any of 'her' saved food, looking back though perhaps I should have, I did find that practice of hers annoying.)
Another issue might be the amount of potential health risk involved in tricking someone into consuming overly hot, spicy food, it may seem like a harmless prank yet might not turn out that way. If the food truly could have been physically hazardous to the victim, then a butt-whipping might have been warranted.
(If the 'hot stuff' had already been in the pantry or spice rack in the kitchen, then the perpetrator wouldn't necessarily need to have been in his/her late teens either.)
So there are a few 'unknowns' to be considered here... --C.K.