Monday, April 23, 2007

Spit It Out

Chris asked the other day what grosses me out, so here goes:

I can't stand spit.

I can't watch people cough up phlegm, and spit it out with a gleaming string of drool hanging from their lips.

Even worse are the drunk, or near passed-out ones that end up with globs of mucus slipping and running down their cheek like raw eggs.

It makes me nauseous and start gagging. Luckily, I've never actually puked from seeing someone hawk up a loogie. And I don't know what's worse, watching them spit it out or swallow it back down.

You can reach for the suction tubing and try to get rid of all of that stuff, but the gurgling sound of the spit getting sucked up grosses me out also.

And I don't like sticking my hands in people's mouths, either. There's nothing worse than peering intently at someone's rotten away molars and having them breathe in your face. I don't know how dentists do it. If I worked in a dental office, I would require patients to gargle with mouthwash before I saw them.

----------

Feet are not my favorite either. Especially, when you peel off someone's sweaty socks and large flakes of skin go flying into the air. You try and time your breathing, but it's impossible. Somewhere in your nasal passages, some foot flakes get stuck, and the memory of the smell will be stuck in your head all night.

The other day I saw this guy with nasty trenchfoot... as in George Washington's soldiers marching barefoot through snow, trenchfoot. The bottoms of his feet were slimy and yellow, with thick, soggy skin. The tops were swollen, red, and ulcerated. Luckily, there were no maggots. That I actually haven't seen... yet.

Old, twisted, thick with fungus toenails creep me out, too.

----------

So there you have it: dental hygienists and pedicurists are people who in my mind cannot be paid enough.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

and now I am officially grossed out too!

Chris said...

I just did one of those mini-pukes in my mouth reading that and now I don't know whether I should spit it out or swallow it, as you mentioned:)

Just kidding! But I hear you on the molar/breathing thing!

Foot flakes? Those are great with some sugar and milk! Ohhh wait...

OK, my turn, things that gross me out:

-hearing someone chew
-the blood/pain of a loved one (I have seen a guy after he fell 19 feet onto a concrete floor head first, no problem...Seeing Alexis get 3 stitches on a knuckle made me lie down on an empty bed in the er)
-sushi
-apophallation (sp?)although I am not sure which is worse, having it done to me or doing it to someone else....it's a toss up. Thanks Kate for introducing us to that term:)
-"What's grosser than gross?" jokes.

Anonymous said...

I guess you won't be an ENT or a food doc (how ever you spell that) then huh? Imagine taking out someone's cheesy-like infected tonsils! Ummmm