check the expiration date…

So, I’ve never really been afraid of germs. I don’t particularly like being dirty, but I’m not afraid of the bacteria party happening on my hands due to said dirt. I totally believe in the 5 second rule (well, sometimes it’s a LOT more than 5 seconds), I don’t wash my fruit before I eat it, I totally use the same coffee cup two days in a row (un-washed), I will share beverages with people I barely know and I don’t mind eating that piece of gum that fell in the bottom of my purse that now has its wrapper half-off and the part that’s sticking out has bottom-of-the-purse-fuzz all over it.

Bottom-of-purse gum

Honestly, I will eat anything. As long as it’s not warm when it’s not supposed to be or smells strange I’ll eat it. I have only eaten bad meat once. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever done and I couldn’t get the taste (or the memory the taste) out of my mouth for a week!!! I’ve taken a giant swig of rotten milk too but neither of these experiences has made me freak out about expiration dates. I, of course, check them in the store (okay, well sometimes) but once they are in my fridge I don’t bother. So, needless to say when I heard a conversation while sitting on my front porch by two passer-byers I started to think that yes, maybe I don’t check as often as I should but THIS was a little extreme. Let’s take a look at the conversation, shall we?

Guy 1: Dude, I always check the date. That reminds me… you’re never going to believe this…. I bought a jug of water the other          day.

Guy 2: Right.

Guy 1: And I checked the date… and it was EXPIRED.

Guy 2: Wait, what?

Guy 1: No, I’m not joking. It was dated for January 14th! I mean, I’m scared now. Can I drink it, or should I throw it away?

Now, I wouldn’t go and take a giant swig from water of an unknown source but I wouldn’t think twice about checking the date on a bottle of water I had just bought… I chuckled to myself and thought that these two were the most ridiculous people I’ve ever heard. But then… I realized… “Wait, I’m totally weird and ridiculous too!”  Why? Well, because I absolutely positively will never, ever, ever under any circumstances eat yogurt from an open container that hasn’t been in my house under my surveillance. And even then it gets tricky! My husband has to have his own container of yogurt because I don’t want to share it with him. I will buy the small containers (even though they cost more in the end) for me because as soon as I open the container I have to eat it then or never return to it again. It really, really grosses me out to open a container of yogurt and think about who’s eaten out of it and how long it’s been sitting there.

Why is it that I can eat pizza that has fallen on the ground outside of Safeco Field (see below) but I can’t eat out of the same yogurt container as my own husband?

This pizza fell on the ground and we ate it anyway (no, I’m not lying)

This is why: I’m just like the expired water guy in the end… I think we all have that one weird thing that totally freaks us out!

What’s yours?