Enkhee D

Gum Poppers!

 

Imagine you are currently taking a test. You read the question in your head. After the many hours of studying and constant cramming of information the night before, you finally recall the answer. Before you can even write it down, you catch something that calls the attention of your focus. Pop! Smack! It is the sound of the most obnoxious habit that a person can do with their mouth and a pack of gum. The person sitting across you cannot keep their mouth closed, preventing you from concentrating on your test. This goes on for the remainder of the testing time. For each question and answer, all you hear is the deafening sound of gum sloshing around in someone’s mouth, repeatedly getting popped and smacked over and over and over again. It is absolute torture.

The use of gum chewing should be for your enjoyment only, and only you. There has at least been one occurrence where you find yourself a day to eat out at a restaurant and the waiter or waitress serving you has gum in their mouth. “Hey, what can I get you to drink?” Oh sure, blow a bubble. “Ready to order?” Pop. “Is that all?” Smack. It’s one thing to chew gum with your mouth closed, but it is definitely another to chew gum with your mouth and saliva all over the place. I eventually end up losing my appetite just thinking of the spit mixing with the gum from the waiter’s mouth. And it’s not just waiters. It can be anybody presenting things or serving people in public, such as flight attendants, a spokesperson, or hair and nail stylists. Nonetheless, chewing gum does not promote a professional image.  It’s not that gum shouldn’t be chewed, but it can be highly rude to talk to someone while causing disruptions when speaking.

Everyone chews gum, whether it’s to fight bad breath or dismiss hunger for a short period. But, not everyone stays aware of the situation around them. Sometimes people can tune out everything around them while concentrating on something and entirely forget they are in a public area. On the other hand, some are not like that. It can become a habit to chew food and gum with their mouths open. But habits can be broken! And if someone really has the urge to pop gum loudly, they can just cease to chew gum in public.

It is completely conceivable to say chewing gum has been a part of human culture. The ancient Greeks chewed on tree resin, as did the Mayans and Native Americans. Tree resins with teeth marks have been found in various countries, such as Finland and Sweden, which dates back more than 5,000 years ago. This sticky liquid that comes from trees became the very influence to market chewing gum to the public. As chewing gum became more famous in America, so did the concept of popping bubbles. One of the producers of bubble gum, the Dubble Bubble factory, which is still know today, thought of a new notion that allowed people to blow huge bubbles from gum. It eventually became popular with the younger crowd and became a hobby for them to blow chewing gum. I mean, what kind of kid wouldn’t want to create a bubble with sticky, pink substance in their mouth?

However, how can someone even get their point across when they are smacking away at their gum? If you don’t eat with your mouth open while talking with people, then don’t chew gum and talk. People around you should not see the things that go into your mouth again and again. A piece of gum is small, and it does not require a large jaw movement to chew on it! It’s unpleasant and extremely distracting to your audience. Especially when you’re meeting strangers, it seems greatly impolite to be blowing gum while introducing yourself. Popping your gum shows a complete lack of respect for others you have just met or anyone older than you. It all works its way into people’s first impression of you and the image you convey about yourself.

Maybe it’s the inconsiderate side of people that get to me. But whatever it is, life would be just a little better if people could stop their habit of chewing with their mouths open and making the aggravating, constant sound of gum popping. So, whenever someone pulls out a piece of gum, listen carefully. If the horrible sound of gum getting smacked and popped repeatedly in between a mouth like a cow is heard, kindly ask them to chew a little more quietly and tell them they are creating a distraction. And if that doesn’t work, just force the gum out of their mouth to shut them up. Of course, if you can, you can leave the scene too.