She Was Right ..... As Usual!

 I was taking my wife, Jeannie, junk shopping the other day on a cold crisp Kentucky morning.  I was underdressed and shivering when she opened a stick of gum for herself and offered me one.  When I refused she informed me that chewing gum made you feel warmer. 

The next day I was reading a book my son gave me for Christmas, The Story Behind, The Extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects; and reading the section about gum, Bazooka gum by Topps, in particular, which was interestingly named for a little known instrument rather than a well known weapon.

I remembered my own childhood experiences with the gum and their penchant for bad jokes on their Bazooka Joe comic wrappers, such as ...."What do little men who lived under the bridge eat? ........Troll House Cookies."

This was a nice cubic chunk of chewable tasty gum that made super bubbles that cover half your face when your redneck friends would pop your giant bubble just as it was reaching world record proportions.   

But then Topps started putting baseball cards in and flattened the gum, it just wasn’t the same.  I grew out of buying gum and collecting cards long after it was common for us to pitch the gum with the wrapper.   In time I guess they just dropped the gum altogether. 

I came out of my reminiscences of childhood when I turned the page and found "A study at St. Lawrence University tested participants who chewed gum before and during testing, and participants who didn't chew anything, and they found those who chewed beforehand were able to recall information faster.  The researchers think cum chewing WARMS UP THE BRAIN to improve test scores..."  

I read the example to my wife and she simply responded with the wife's typical "And you thought you were Sooo Smart” look, leaning forward with hands spread ... reminding me that ...

She Was Right ..... As Usual!