That week I tried the '5 second rule' with every dropped snack - big mistake

Last Monday I dropped a perfectly toasted bagel with cream cheese on my kitchen floor. Instead of tossing it like normal, I remembered some post about germs being overblown and picked it up fast. Ate it. Felt fine. So I got cocky. By Wednesday I was eating popcorn that fell between couch cushions. Thursday I grabbed a grape off the sidewalk outside my apartment - that was stupid. Friday night I spent three hours on the toilet regretting every decision. Never again. Has anyone else tried this dumb experiment and paid for it with stomach problems?

3 comments

3 Comments

janarivera7d ago

Wait, are we really blaming the 5 second rule and not the sidewalk grape? Ive eaten stuff off my floor plenty of times without getting sick, but a grape from outside the apartment is a whole different ballgame. Thats basically eating from the ground where dogs and birds have been doing their business. Pretty sure that grape would've made you sick even if you picked it up in 2 seconds.

leo_fisher7d ago

Totally. I have a similar story but with nachos. Dropped one on a clean-ish tile floor at home, picked it up in like three seconds, ate it and was fine. But once a french fry fell out of my bag in a parking lot. I grabbed it in like one second and took a bite. Spent the next 12 hours hugging the toilet. That parking lot ground had everything from bird poop to cigarette butts. Its not the time, its where it lands. That sidewalk grape was basically a biohazard in a fruit disguise.

miles_roberts7d ago

Heard this from a buddy of mine who dropped a slice of pepperoni pizza on a city bus floor. He picked it up in maybe two seconds, brushed off some dirt, and ate it. Spent the next two days in bed with a fever that he swore came from that bus floor being a petri dish of every commuter's shoe germs. Now he won't eat anything that touches anything outside his own kitchen.