One of the constants from generation to generation seems to be that children seek status among their peer group and also seem to engage in behavior that gives them a certain entre into the adult world. These seem to be some of the motivations that are driving the current trends in vaping. The rumored dangers of any given trend don’t seem to be much of a deterrent. The deterrent effect seems to be much stronger when its bad effects can be directly witnessed.
Some of my childhood friends and classmates liked to marinate wooden toothpicks in small vials of cinnamon oil, then suck on the toothpicks. There was no real danger in this practice, but it only took a couple of incidents to discourage us from doing this any longer. The first incident was when my friend splashed cinnamon oil on his face while trying to dislodge a stubborn toothpick. Mace wasn’t around at the time, but I would equate the effect on him to that of someone who had been pepper sprayed. The second incident involved on of my classmates dropping and breaking a vial of cinnamon oil on the classroom floor. When he attempted to wipe it up the top layer of the tile was stripped away exposing the asphalt core. The geography teacher said, “Let that be a lesson to you. What do you suppose it is doing to your insides?”
We did get a lesson in the properties of organic solvents, but I’m not so sure we thought any real harm would come to us internally. However, after that no one seemed interested in sucking on cinnamon impregnated toothpicks.
Thomas J. Munyon
Marysville
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