How many of you are nonplussed when someone you’re talking to suddenly offers you a mint or stick of gum? Do you feel like they’re just being polite and generous or do you start feeling like they’re trying to tell you something?
How do you react? I always think they’re trying to tell me something and, after ending the conversation as quickly as possible while trying to breath as shallowly as I can, I check my breath with cupped hand as soon as I can. I’m never sure though because supposedly the cupped hand test doesn’t work.
I think I’m okay though because no one has told me (since I was a kid) that I have bad breath, except someone I’ve just woken up with says it when I’m all up in their face. I’m tempted to ask the mint-offerer, but am too afraid of the answer.
Do you yourself offer gum or mints to the Death Eaters in your life, either out from a need to share or a need to beware? Or do you just try to sidle away as quickly and smoothly as possible to save your life?
I heard somewhere that when someone offers you gum or a mint, the polite thing to do is to accept it JUST IN CASE they were in fact trying to tell you that your breath stinks.
So that’s my policy.
And, hey, free gum.
I do offer gum/mints to tohers if I eat them in front of the person just out of politeness, not as a statement on their breath odor. And I offered gum to my boyfriend before I was anticipating our first smoochy time just to be on the safe side.
As for when someone else smells bad, I usually just avoid them…if I can (anyone who has worked in the medical field long enough knows the pain of being trapped in a small exam room with someone who has poor hygiene - and, no, the smelliest folks are not always the sick ones, or the ones who can’t afford proper facilities)
I usually take it and, though I’m wondering about my breath, it’s just to be polite. And I like free stuff.
Jesus, if I could avoid people who smell bad, especially at work, especially someone who I have to talk to, like a boss or a colleague in my department.
There is a guy I know who is underemployed who asks me if I have mints or gum almost everytime we talk, making me wonder about me also. He says his breath probably stinks but, even during close talking, it’s never smelled bad to me. So, again, I’m wondering if he’s hinting about me.
Low funds or not, his never having his own mints is a whole other issue.
If I’m around someone with bad breath and I have gum or mints, I’ll take one myself and offer them one “just to be polite.” If I have bad breath, I’ll use gum or mints, and offer one to whoever I’m with “just to be polite.”
And if someone offers me gum or mints, I take it, just in case I need it.
