I guess I’ve never personally had much of an issue with cooling my tongs too hot. I know that the problem is out there though. I’ve always assumed the it comes from people using tong clip or things of that nature that keep the tongs attached to the material as it’s in the fire?

Yeah, there are times a guy has to keep the tongs clipped to the work to keep from losing it and the tongs will get above critical. Throw them on the ground and grab another pair. This is why I keep the water bucket out of reach when I have students in the shop. I make dipping something in the slack tub a deliberate process not a reflex. 

It's all part of the learning curve and education can be expensive, especially if you don't pay attention. 

Frosty The Lucky.

This is where we are haunted by the past!   Back when smiths used mainly low carbon real wrought iron or real mild steel they would quench something in the slack tub any time they felt like it and so we have grown up on stories, movies, TV shows showing smiths doing just that.  BUT we are now generally using A-36 or work with higher carbon content alloys which are CHEAP in our scrap stream but were very expensive---or unknown---way back when.  Why I generally don't have a slack tub full of water in my shop.