Never waste gum!

By On May 20, 2006 · 8 Comments

I stood at the counter of the traiteur looking at the delicious turkish foods behind an immaculately clean glass case trying to decide what I would eat from the fine selection they had. A fat man in his late 40′s walked in with two small kids in tow, probably somewhere around 4 and 6 years old they were. The fat man looked intently at the food, barely keeping his drool in his mouth, whilst the kids starting walking around obviously not hungry at all. The youngest one, a boy, saw me looking at him in front of the food display and he promptly opened up his mouth and stuck his tongue out at me. The chewing gum he was masticating rolled off his tongue and on to the floor in front of my shoes. I couldn’t help but laugh at the surprised look that followed on his face when he realised what it was that had fallen on the tiles next to my feet. He quickly turned to see if the fat man was watching – which he wasn’t – then bent over, picked up the gum, and stuck it back in his mouth. Err… what?! I couldn’t really believe he had just done that because who the fuck puts gum back in their mouth thats just dropped on a shop floor?! Well kids do I guess. I laughed again, and the little guy actually laughed along with me as if knowing he’d just done something pretty unusual (and gross). The fat man then received his order of food and out he went with the kids in tow. The little guy turned and waved to me as he went out, probably happy in the knowledge he had done a good deed for the day in making me smile.

Now there’s a kid who really understands the concept of; waste not, want not!

Padwanna!

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The Never waste gum! by Mentalechoes, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
 
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  • ann

    Nice description. Your ability to write a descriptive passage is great.

  • pippi

    He Padwanna,
    Very funny, I strongly have something against chewing gum,i hate it! Since i was a child could not stand people chewing so let’s imagine picking it off the ground and putting it in your mouth again. If the father would have seen it he problaby got a fit. Did you see Charlie’s choclat factory the girl who chewed turned into a big bluberry, i think, very funny. I have a strong preference for adults who ar able to call on their inner child, if you know what i mean, one problem however that i seem to have an attraction for men who have that but on the other hand they don’t seem to take responseabilities very serious. So it’s never perfect, still looking for the balance in that. Have a nice day talk to you later Pippi

  • Anonymous

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with the child picking up his *own* gum which had been on the ground for a split second, off the ground and putting it back in his mouth. Doctors say it helps build their immunity. We can become too paranoid about hygine.:-/

  • Padwanna

    Hi Ann,

    Thanks for the comment here. Glad you liked the entry, and the writing.

    Take care and read you soon,

    Padwanna!

  • Padwanna

    Hi Pip,

    So you’re not into gum then I guess! :) Well we all have our pet hates! :)

    I haven’t seen Charlie and Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp, but I did see the original with Gene Wilder, which I liked very much. Lots of kids turning into things in that one too, so I know what you mean! Sometimes we can become too serious I think! But it’s that finding balance which is the real trick!

    Padwanna!

  • Padwanna

    Anonymous,

    Yeah I have no doubt that the gum was still fit for human consumption, and he won’t contract some form of ebola virus and die horribly. After all, it was a quality establishment with very clean surfaces.

    However, spitting something out on the ground and then picking it up and chewing on it again is kinda socially gross, and pretty humourous. If it wasn’t everyone would be doing it and encouraging their friends and relatives to do it more often!

    The point of the story was to illustrate a poignantly funny moment involving a child and adult! Not critic the little guys personal habits nor examine the relative safety of his aformentioned actions.

    Thanks all the same for speaking your peice. But seriously, just relax a bit and not take stuff so seriously! You’ll save yourself a lot of wrinkles if you do!

    Padwanna!

  • Anonymous

    Hahaha! See I’m not at all serious…I’m a very funny person indeed. ;-)
    I actually had a good laugh at your entry, because -
    1) It was very well written and it was humorous.
    2) It’s a very common incident ie kids dropping things and then picking them up again and putting them in their mouths.
    3) It’s usually people who don’t have kids that find this “grose”.
    To those who have kids (I have 4 little darlings) it’s actually quiet common, and nothing to worry about.
    That was the point I was trying to make.:-)

  • Padwanna

    Hi Anon,

    Wow, 4 kids! Well you’ve got my respect! I know that’s got to be hard work!

    Well I’m glad you liked the entry, and found it humourous. I promise next time I watch a kid do a spit’n'chew act I’ll give him some slack now I know he is simply building up his immunity.

    Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again!

    Padwanna!

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