Forbidden sweets

When I was a child, I was not allowed to buy chewing gum. My mother always said the continuous movement of the jaw reminded her of a cow "chewing the cud". The mental picture of the contented cow, standing there, unmoving except for the jaw, was enough to put me off, too.

I was a teenager when I learned the real reason for her intense disllike of chewing gum. She was a tall woman, with particularly long legs. When she was in the U.S.A., in the 1920's, she would go into a hotel for, say, a cup of tea or coffee, almost folding herself up to fit under the table.

Practically every time she stood up to leave, she would find lumps of masticated chewing gum adhering to her clothes at knee level, which had been stuck under the table by the previous occupiers. Disgusting isn't it......? And that is why I never have liked chewing gum!