Gum

So, I went to take a shower at the gym today.  I stepped into my favorite shower, closed the door, looked down, and to my complete and utter disgust, discovered that someone had spit out a massive (and when I say massive, I mean massive) wad of blue gum that they had been chewing.  Seriously, this wad of gum was so big it was baseball sized and left the shower smelling like wintergreen.  I honestly had no idea there were people with mouths big enough to fit that much gum in them.  

This, folks, confirms why I hate public areas.  People can be so foul sometimes.  What, may I ask, inspires someone to spit a big wad of gum on the ground where other people walk—or worse, clean themseves—sometimes with bare feet?  (I never, by the way, walk with bare feet in the gym, a topic I will save for a different post.) 

The other day it was about 105 degrees outside, I stepped out of my car, and wham! a huge wad of gum stuck to my shoe.  It was so hot that it literally just melted onto my shoe permanently.  Seriously, the rubber on the sole of my shoe and the gum became one, fused together through some reaction spurred by extreme heat.  I guess I just don't know what is up with people thinking that they can be irresponsible with gum.  I mean, how different is this than not picking up after your dog on a walk or throwing trash on the street?  And don't give me that "the birds can use it for their nests" line.  If a bird picked up your gum, it would just get stuck to their beak and harden, causing the bird to be unable to sing sweet music to attract a mate or be able to eat anything, thereby leading to its inability to procreate or obtain sustenance, thus leading to the poor bird's prolonged, painful, premature death.

Is it really so difficult to walk to a garbage can to dispose of your gum, or, at the very least, to throw it underneath a bush or rock where you know no one will ever step?  This is the safe way to dispose of your gum, and I recommend it to anyone who is a decent human being and not a bird hater.