I used to chew so much gum.
I always had gum in my bag. It’s hard to remember now. Did I chew gum all day long? Just when I was kinda hungry but didn’t want to eat? Because I was worried about my breath?
At one point I did physical therapy for TMJ. As I recall one of the orthodontists I consulted with was concerned about a click in my jaw and didn’t want to treat me until I did the PT. So maybe around 2017?
I did the PT but didn’t go to that orthodontist. But that’s not part of the story.
The PT person told me no more gum.
Maybe I missed it at the time but I never even think about gum now.
It seemed like at the grocery store there was a bank of gum next to the registers and I don’t notice that anymore.
I looked it up and gum chewing has declined and picked up speed during the pandemic. Probably not a bad thing.
This reminds me of a story: when I was in middle school there was a bubble gum called Bubble Yum and somehow there was a shortage? There was a girl in our grade and she had an uncle who was connected somehow and she would have boxes of Bubble Yum in her locker.
