Waiting in line at Sprouts yesterday, I was entertained by the family in front of me, a woman with a girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, and a younger boy, perhaps 5. The woman, an obviously thrifty shopper, was negotiating her discount coupons with the cashier while her daughter carefully moved her groceries from the cart to the belt. The arrangement of the groceries to most productively make use of the discounts, entailed separating her purchases into two orders, which took a bit more time than the little boy had patience for. His boredom was expressed, “Mom, mom, mom!” until eventually he was given a sucker to occupy his overactive mouth.
Both children were uncommonly beautiful and better behaved than average, so I was content to let them entertain me while mom held up the line. The little boy exclaimed how good the sucker was to his still preoccupied mom. But then, he accidentally dropped the treat on the floor. Glancing up to see that Mom hadn’t seen the slip, he quickly retrieved it and popped it back into his mouth.
The woman waiting behind me and I burst into laughter simultaneously. I turned to her and she said what I was thinking, “Good for the immune system”.

My dad was a pediatrician — I remember that periodically a non would call him, worried because her little one had eaten a mouthful of garden dirt. He would calmly reassure the mom tht a little dirt wouldn’t hurt the little one, but not to make it a habitual diet!
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My niece is a new dog mom. She rushes her little girl to the vet every time the little omnivore eats something questionable. I reassured her that dogs are perfectly capable of passing or barfing up almost anything they eat.
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Didn’t even blow on it first to get the loose stuff off? He knows his immune system is the stuff of envy for us Oldie Hawn types!
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In his defense, Sprouts is touted to be a health food store. But I like your idea of first blowing on things before putting them in your mouth.
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It’s the secret to my unbearable longevity? Unbearable to whom, that’s the question. 😵💫😵💫😵💫
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Ha! We were firm believers in the 5 second rule!! (especially if it was chocolate)
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We too, believed anything we could beat the dog to was fair game, in our own house. I don’t recall there being a rule for public spaces.
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