Do you remember the scene in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where the little girl who found a Golden Ticket was obsessed with her chewing gum?
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| Violet Beauregarde- gum chewing girl- after the chewing got the best of her |
While I distance myself from her personality, the first step is to admit that you have problem. My name is Sonja, and I have a chewing gum addiction.
As I approach the checkout counter at the grocery store, my eyes are quickly scouring the wide variety of choices offered in gum...not candy bars. I find myself excited at the possibility of a new flavor. The colors leap from the boxes drawing my attention, tempting me to pick them up. Sometimes I even desirously breathe in the aroma emanating from the tiny package. The flavors offered have changed over the years, becoming far more complex than just bubblegum, grape, and the mints from the past.
I remember the Juicy Fruit commercials where the delicious fruity flavor grew in packs on trees. If you want to enjoy one of those 1970's commercials, here's a link. commercial link My sisters and I naively believed that you could be Juicy Fruit farmers. We sacrificed a stick of gum one time, carefully planting it in our backyard, watering it, and waiting. What a long wait! Eventually we decided that we had to have done something wrong in our planting. Did we not water it enough? Were we not supposed to water it? The commercials had the yellow packages growing on them; maybe we were supposed to plant an entire pack of the gum and not just a single stick. The thought of giving up an entire pack was more than we could bear. You see, we RARELY were allowed gum. My mother frequently found a chewed up piece on the carpet or in the bedding (tip: an ice cube placed on it for a while hardens it and lets you pull it up), or in our hair (tip: peanut butter gets it out). Hence the ban; a control we found quite Communist-like at our young age.
How much did I love gum? Because of the gum ban in our home, if we were found chewing it...to the garbage can it went. Did that bother me? At first...yes. But I soon found an intelligent solution to my conundrum. I waited until my mom or dad left the room, then went back and dug it out of the trash to resume my chewing. I know, I know...you are shocked. Me and my germ phobia did that.
The only time I ever stole anything was around the age of 6 or 7...and it was gum (on two occasions). I hang my head in shame at the thought of stealing, but again, remember that I was on a gum ban...I still found a way to get some. Addictions can drive you to a life of crime. I am living proof that it can happen. I have since found better and more appropriate ways to deal with gum withdrawals.
When my children were very young, in order to help them to be reverent in Sacrament Meeting (church), I bribed them. Yes... I believe in bribery. If they were reverent at the beginning of church and all through the Sacrament, they could choose a piece of gum. I kept about 3-4 packs in my purse. Today I bring close to 4-6 packs, sometimes more. I now have two kids out of the house and two not far behind them, and they still ask for gum after the Sacrament. They have their favorites. I have passed my addiction on to them. I have not broken the addiction chain.
How bad is my addiction today?
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| This is the stash in my night stand. It is a couple of layers deep. |
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| I had several coupons. This was restraining myself. |
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| The current favorite for J and P. It even tastes a little carbonated. P loves to smell the wrappers as well. |
I will continue to enjoy my gum. I hope to pass on this fetish to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I hope to win the coveted spot of Favorite Grandma by always having their favorite gum when they visit. Enjoy your gum...I will be enjoying mine.
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