Emily P

 Gum Chomping

     Most every human being living on this earth has something that bothers them personally or makes them aggravated. These little quirks are typically known as pet peeves and they can be something small, like somebody spitting on the ground, or something big, like how a company may make a product. Pet peeves get on everybody’s nerves and are not hard to develop, but a personal pet peeve of mine is when people chew their gum loudly. After we have dinner, my sister usually wants fresh breath and she always decides to chomp her gum like a cow. I always politely say, “Holly! You are so loud can you please chew more quietly?” After I say this she realizes how loud she is and tries to be quieter, but she still chomps. Then there is my mother who pops the gum inside her mouth every single Sunday in church. I’ll never know how or why they do it, but I do know that it is one of my biggest pet peeves. When people decide to chomp on a small piece of gum and pop it or blow bubbles with it, it just drives me crazy.

     My pet peeve may seem meaningless or like it shouldn’t matter, but every time I seem to be in a quiet place there is always that one obnoxious person chewing a piece of gum. When I hear this continuous chewing noise I feel like I should have the right to annoy that person back. So I usually pop in a piece of my own gum and chew it just like they do until they get the point.  I always ask that person, “Can you please chew with your mouth closed or spit out your gum? Thank you!”  I sometimes do this without even knowing it because I am so used to asking this same old question.  I feel as if all I hear is 100 people making a chewing noise, even if it is just one person, and it drives me crazy. Why it makes me like this, I will never know. But I try to focus on something else or leave the room whenever this pet peeve of mine shows up.

     This chewing noise not only occurs in public places, but in my own household too. Unfortunately, my mother taught my older sister how to pop her gum and no matter how many times I ask her to stop, she never does. I repeatedly say, “Holly will you please stop popping bubbles and making that annoying noise?” Yet somehow I always get the same response of, “No I just put it in and I don’t want to waste it Emily!” After this, I calmly sit there listening to popping noises or end up leaving the room. It is a bad habit of my mother and my sister, but since they always do this I have to listen to gum popping every time they slip a piece of gum into their mouths. Another example of how this awful popping noise gets around me is when friends offer other friends gum. When this happens, it usually allows over ten people at one time to make this awful noise. I always try to hide my gum or keep it to myself for this very reason. No matter how hard I try, this pet peeve of mine will always be with me because I am almost positive gum isn’t going out of style for a while.

     I do not know exactly how or where this popping noise got started, but I do have a pretty good idea. Bubblegum has been sold since way back when and is manufactured to be big in size, which makes it hard to chew. This means that most people have to chew with their mouths open, making that awful chewing noise. Bubblegum is so large and physically hard that it pleases the taste buds and makes everyone want a piece of their own. Any gum that has long lasting flavor and is thick causes people to want to chew it faster and louder for the flavor. I blame bubblegum for my hate towards gum chewing, but even I can’t resist the delicious taste of bubblegum.

     My solution to stop this pet peeve of mine is to listen to music or put ear buds in so I don’t have to worry about hearing a close bystander or friend chomping their jaws on this small, edible item. I also resolve this issue by making my friends or family simply spit out their gum. I just ask them to please chew with their mouths closed or to throw it away. It especially bothers me when we are somewhere quiet and somebody near me is making popping noises in the pure silence. It drives not only me, but my sister wild as well. Although this pet peeve is about the simplest problem in the world, I wouldn’t mind if companies stopped making gum. If there were no gum, then people could simply suck on a mint silently and peacefully or even brush their teeth. Either way, people will still have fresh breath just without the irritating chewing noise. Pet peeves will always exist in this world, but if we try hard enough to resolve or avoid them, then we could all be happier people. I chew my gum quietly every time I happen to have a piece, and have tried to teach my family and friends to do the same. Overall, this pet peeve has taught me to cope with small hardships and to be easy going about the annoying little things in life. Pet peeves can be as minor as mine, or as big as to how forks are made, but no matter what they will always be here to bug us and keep us on our toes.