# Puke-a-thons--Can they happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 11, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271 "2011-03-11T04:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/1 "2011-03-11T04:33:06Z")
I’m talking about mass public retching, as described in fiction such as the movies \*Stand by Me \*and _The Goonies_. Have these ever happened in real life? I know that if there was an illness going around, or a mass exposure to a chemical it’d be possible. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/2 "2011-03-11T05:42:56Z")
Many years a go I worked one season as a pilot flying air tours in the Grand Canyon. Like this [http://www.airvegas.com/tour\_info.php?id=24](http://www.airvegas.com/tour_info.php?id=24), but in a similar-but-smaller airplane about 2/3rds that size. My personal record for a single flight with 9 passsengers is 32 bags of puke. All 9 participated; there were no abstentions. Probably not quite what you meant, but it’s a start. p.s. Here [What is your personal best puke-a-thon record? - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=451260) is a fine puke-related thread from some years ago with more detail on my aerial puke-a-thon as well as many other poster’s stories of massive but individual gastro-distress. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/3 "2011-03-11T06:19:00Z")
Go to a local 5K or 10K and watch the finish line. 😃 Personally, I have a hard time not puking at the sight/sound of someone else puking. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/4 "2011-03-11T13:31:46Z")
“Hey! Garth, get it together, man. 'Cause if you hurl, and I catch a whiff of it, man… I’m gonna spew. And if I blow chunks, chances are someone else is gonna honk, alright? And that’s gonna set off a parastolic reaction, alright?” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/5 "2011-03-11T14:18:37Z")
I’ve seen it happen on a plane. Oh, not so dramatic, but even the people that are not feeling badly start to, when they smell all that puke. I was one of the last ones to start throw up. But it isn’t like people running around and screaming. Especially in a plane where everyone has sickness bags. We all just went for our bags. Probably 2/3s of economy class was sick - I had no idea what was going on in first class. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/6 "2011-03-11T14:29:12Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Probably 2/3s of economy class was sick - I had no idea what was going on in first class. They were holding on to their monocles and gently vomiting into champagne flutes. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/7 "2011-03-11T14:30:31Z")
I’ve seen it happen on a boat. Probably close to 400 passengers, of whom about 300 hurled. Amazingly, I was not one of them. When I got home I showered like you wouldn’t believe. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/8 "2011-03-12T02:48:50Z")
One of the funniest scenes in any movie, EVER, is the scene in The Sandlot where they all eat the chew and get on the tiltawhirl. I laughed so hard the first 100 times I saw that. Very funny. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/9 "2011-03-12T16:00:16Z")
Hanging with Mr. Creosote? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BlK62rjQWLk/hqdefault.jpg "Mr Creosote (Monty Python)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlK62rjQWLk) ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/10 "2011-03-13T01:37:36Z")
At the risk of fancying yet another Just-So Story, I wonder if “contagious puking” was selected for-usually people would all have eaten the same thing (mammoth meat, say), and the first person to get sick might be a warning that tonight’s meal isn’t going to be all that healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/11 "2011-03-13T01:42:34Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > At the risk of fancying yet another Just-So Story, I wonder if “contagious puking” was selected for-usually people would all have eaten the same thing (mammoth meat, say), and the first person to get sick might be a warning that tonight’s meal isn’t going to be all that healthy. I have heard that theory. And I have heard that contageous puking is more common among children, who are typically more sensitive to spoiled or poisonous food. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/puke-a-thons-can-they-happen/574271/12 "2011-03-13T02:34:14Z")
The [Wendy’s-thumb in Chili](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/chili.asp) supposedly sparked one.