thought of the day

Chewing gum is strange.

I noticed people this morning on the tube chewing gum and they just looked so odd. As if they were being forced to endure some sort of Tantalus-inspired torture: a mouthful of food endlessly chewed into mushy oblivion.

I wikied chewing gum, which told me that it's traditionally made of natural latex. Most gum isn't made of chicle anymore, except for in Mexico and Japan, so you only have to chew natural condom gum in those countries. Most of the rest of the world chews flavoured, artificially sweetened synthetic rubber. Delicious! Apparently it's the same sort of rubber used for inner tubes or the lining of tubeless tires. Yummy!

Maybe you'll think of that next time you pop a stick of gum in your mouth. Creepy.