November 29th, 2010 
judowolf 
Sitting on a park bench waiting for a friend, I saw a child playing and her gum fell out of her mouth onto the ground. She bent over, picked it up, brushed it off, saw her mother was not looking, and popped it back into her mouth.
Parents view gum as the filthiest substance on earth and their worst fear is when their child drops it out of their mouth, picks it up, and chews it, as it contains a billion germs.
Children love the smell of gum; its flavor brings a juicy sensation to their mouth, they try to blow bubbles, stuff as much as possible in their mouth, and pick it up even if it has dirt on it.
Germs are public enemy number one, and parents will do anything to eliminate them from their child’s world. The following are the new defenses against germs; children must have all their immunizations, no playing in or eating dirt, hand washing twenty times a day, hand sanitizer in every room, and the replacement of the five-second rule with – hits the ground trash it.
The war against germs has gone too far, and if it continues, children will have immature immune systems, and be unable to fight even the simplest germs.
Parents continue overprotecting their children from germs not realizing they are impeding the growth of the child’s immune system.
Parents should cut back on the germ warfare, as there is no foolproof way to protect them against all germs.
Chewing gum with dirt on it introduces the child’s immune system to germs they can attack beginning its lifelong obligation of protecting the child.
Growing up, I ate my share of dirt, chewed gum with dirt on it, obeyed the five-second rule, and endured all childhood illnesses.
A few minutes later, a girl bent over to pick up her lost gum, and I smiled as her mother went streaking toward her.
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