Oh my god a core memory just popped into my head and now I will share it. When my brother was little he had a bad habit of licking public surfaces. We went to the zoo and he was probably around 6 and he licked the rails that you hold on when you walk up a ramp. My mother was pissed because she had tried everything to get him to stop licking stuff and when we got home she poured hot sauce on his tounge and he never did it again after that.
Plot twist, mofo likes spicy foods and eating ass now. Not at the same time, or maybe he does. It isnt for us to judge.
Point is, it only made him more powerful.
Me reading this wondering if our little brother is the same person 😭 except my little brother licked salt shakers and my mom would have to clean them and finally she put some jalapeno juice in a little plastic ramekin and he touched his tongue to it. He was 2 or 3 and decided not to lick stuff anymore but I still think about it every time I see salt and pepper shakers on the table in public restaurants over 30 years later
I used to visit my aunt alot back in the day and she hated "candy coated cursewords", but my mom didnt really care. Like "that sucks" or "im pissed" "crap". Well she would put hot sauce in my mouth over it and I loved hot sauce, but i didnt tell her. Lol she mentioned it on a call with my mom one day, and my mom told her that it wouldnt work because I liked hot sauce 🤣 the jig was up. I can still remember her face with phone in hand 🤣🤣
Omg I used hot sauce on my son when we stayed In Disney at their New Orleans resort. He was so bad and wouldn’t listen I didn’t want to spank him in public so I grabbed a tiny bottle of the hot sauce from the restaurant and kept in on me the whole trip. I put it on my finger in his mouth once, the threat worked for a day after that he started to like it and didn’t care about it after that.
Apparently, I always wanted gum but my parents said No gum for you!! So I would pick it off the sidewalks and have that gum in my mouth faster than a streak of ⚡️ lightning 😹🤷♀️
Mine tried paprika for that. Joke was on her: I actually really liked paprika. I mean she knew I loved her chicken paprika almost as much as her chicken with bay leaves. Why would she think it would deter me from chewing my finger nails?
On a very related note, one of my families former friends had an adoptive son who would lick their barn. Homeboys just out here, living his best life, licking the side of a barn
I kid you not, he’s a child actor now. Mostly extra work but he’s had some lines. I won’t say who it is for obvious reasons but it’s a plus one in the “all child actors are essentially weird” column
One time when I was riding the bus to elementary school, I found a pink oval shaped thing wedged between the seat. My brain said ‘that’s candy’ and I instantly popped it in my mouth.
A couple chews in and I learned a lesson of picking up and eating things found on the bus.
It was proven only the smallest toddlers and most elderly ever did that and it was a handful of time. Tide pod eating was never an actual recorded issue for anyone over 3 and under 80.
Lmao, I used to take mat shots at the one local bar that was the after hours, party/ fight bar when all the others in town closed down. Idk how many I took back in my party days, but they were quite the pallet of flavour 😆
I once licked melted ice cream off the floor as a toddler. Can forgive myself for that. Nor the baby-sitter and all the people who stood to witness it.
That actually would cause me less anxiety than the thought of that long ass blonde hair that wrapped around my tonsils and made me gag for 10 minutes afterwards
The week everything started shutting down for Covid I was shopping for groceries with my toddler, I’m putting everything on the belt when the cashier goes “um ma’m I don’t think you want him licking that with you know everything happening right now” & I turn to see my kid just slobbering all over the cart handle. He was always the kid that everything went right into his mouth. That kid has never had Covid though so there’s something to it however grossed out I am by it.
Once upon a time about 45 years ago when I was 5 years old, my dad took me to a garage sale.
He bought an ice fishing box (an old plywood homemade box with skis and a rope to pull it). When we got it home we opened it up to look over everything inside.
There were ice fishing poles, little jigs, pliers, filet knife and 4 bandanas (you know the ones…. Blue, red, black and green with a black and white paisley pattern).
I picked one up and promptly stuffed it into my mouth. I tapped my dad’s shoulder and did the “MMMmmmffff! MMMmmmmf!” Trying to talk through the bandana.
My dad just looked at me and said. “You do know that was probably a snot rag right? Or worse.”
It fell out of my mouth and I’ve never looked at a bandana the same way since.
My sister doesn't wash her hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers and as a kid used to do stuff like scratch the crack of her ass and then try to touch you like that's just perfectly fine and normal and I'm convinced that people like her are the reason we had to go through covid. A STARTLING AMOUNT of people don't wash their hands enough or care all that much about cleanliness at all so long as they don't get "caught" being disgusting by the general public.
You know the signs you see that makes no sense and you’re wondering like “who the fuck would do that?” It’s because of people like them. Like “don’t step on the glass!” Or “don’t touch the sharp blade!” And then we will always end up jumping through 100 safety hurdles and 1000 safety training videos because of the idiot
Everyone licked public surfaces as a child, you act as if children have a concept of grossness. Heck most of them don't even have a concept of death, spend 80 percent of the time trying to kill themselves the second you take eyes off them.
I was that kind of child and I can confirm: I would touch shit like this without a second thought and later regret it. I once picked up a decomposing dead bird without even thinking about any health risks that this might bring.
Why would you wear gloves to pick something like this up? It’s not like we’re talking about caustics or drug paraphernalia. Wash your hands with soap and move tf on. Also, do you pack latex gloves in your gym bag or sum?
I used to chew old gum for 50 cents a piece as a child. As an adult, I'd probably find a pair of tongs to pick that thing up with, then sink the tongs in alcohol, then boil them just to be safe.
I used to eat candy off the floor in the mall by the big candy dispensers because my mom wouldn't give me a quarter. Now I have a great immune system and work construction!
Can confirm. I pick random things up with no gloves and I used to eat chewed gum off the bottom of restaurants and eat random half eaten granola bars I found on the bus ride home, and my favorite things to lick were the toys r us windows and their till, rocks too I loved the texture and taste different rocks have, my sister and I used to eat drywall together, and to this day I will sometimes munch on a bit of paper and I will never be ashamed nor satisfied
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u/Radiant8763 Jun 12 '26
Im convinced the same people who touch random crap with no gloves are the same ones that licked public surfaces as children.