The Five Second Rule.

Have you heard of the superstitious theory of the “five second rule”? If not, here it is and I must say you will disapprove of it. Just remember what you read from here.

At a cafeteria one day I happened to drop the last crumb of apple pie that was on my plate. Now that I had savored the entire slice, it would have been ethical of me to pick up the crumb and dutifully throw it in the garbage can. But as human as I am, I heard the little voice in my head saying “just go ahead and apply the five second rule”. That was a really scrumptious apple pie and I was not going to waste a morsel.

After petulantly eyeing around and with despicable guilt written all over my face, I picked up the crumb that lay there and placed it in my mouth with a complete satisfaction of mind and an acrid guilty heart. In truth, I contemplated that all I did was to pick up food that was lying on the ground for just about four seconds.

So the apple pie was not wasted, but why was I guilty? Maybe subconsciously I did not believe in the “five second rule theory”. I just applied it at free will to influence my mind to take something that should have been disposed.

I am sure many of us have similar stories of guilt, just picking food off the floor five seconds after it was dropped. If you have a good immune system and healthy enough to suffer the consequences, then go ahead, this rule works. If not, please stop doing this.

Consuming food that is covered in germs not visible to the naked eye is an offence to our health. And needless to say, the five second rule is a dirty little lie. Surprisingly, research shows that food scooped from the floor is a habit that is common in women than in men and naturally it is applied to sweet treats over steamed veggies.

The truth is that when food contacts a polluted surface, it does not need five seconds to get contaminated. Germ transmission occur instantaneously and regretfully it is as good as consuming the same from the garbage itself. After all, health is something we do not want to compromise, so why nourish your temptations and suffer the penalties? Just evade it and please go pick up another slice of pie.