# What would you do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 7, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210 "2009-07-07T16:49:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/41 "2009-07-08T13:27:47Z")
Where there’s one ant, there’s six. However, I love coffee cake. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/42 "2009-07-08T14:26:12Z")
I think I’d throw it away. Could be more of the suckers hiding in there. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/43 "2009-07-08T14:35:32Z")
I think those are poppyseeds or flecks of vanilla bean. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/44 "2009-07-08T14:51:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Where there’s one ant, there’s six. Thanks for bringing that up after it’s too late to edit my post and adjust my math. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/45 "2009-07-08T14:56:47Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > (Unlike the huge cockroach I encountered in my office this morning - ack! I captured it for the exterminator, who agreed with my theory that it had probably been brought over in someone’s bag or something, and crawled under my door to (unsuccessfully) look for food sources.) You do realize that the huge cockroach probably laid all of her eggs before you found her. Her offspring will want revenge. Roaches are resourceful little buggers, and don’t need your tawdry food scraps to survive. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/46 "2009-07-08T15:04:12Z")
Pfft. I camp. When we run out of vinegar, we crush ants for flavor. Okay, no we don’t (but we could - apparently ants are acidic), and I couldn’t knowingly eat an ant, but I’d inspect the cake and, if it really was ant free, I’d eat the cake. Husband’s on his own though. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/47 "2009-07-08T15:22:26Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > …I couldn’t knowingly eat an ant, but I’d inspect the cake and, if it really was ant free, I’d eat the cake. That’s how I felt. I didn’t want to be like some crazy dude sitting on the steps of the public library, picking bugs off his filthy overcoat and talking to them before he eats them, but hey…since the ant vacated the cake, I figured it was my turn. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/48 "2009-07-08T16:28:33Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Never get “germovision”. You’ll never eat, breath, or frack again. > > Eat the cake. So true, it’s a major curse! Except when it’s keeping me out of the ER. I’d throw it away. There’s no telling what that ant walked through to get here. . . :eek: ---
**Author:** ![CateAyo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@CateAyo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CateAyo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/49 "2009-07-08T17:13:37Z")
I’d eat the cake, and the the ant too if it got in the way. Otherwise, the ant can have the ant-mouth sized remnants in the package. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/50 "2009-07-09T23:57:39Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > So true, it’s a major curse! Except when it’s keeping me out of the ER. > > I’d throw it away. There’s no telling what that ant walked through to get here. . . :eek: Well, he may have already visited the ant trap I keep on that counter. However, if he was there and then hung out in the cake container for half a day, I have to think the poison isn’t too dangerous. But that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/51 "2009-07-10T00:11:15Z")
> [@labtrash](#): > > I read somewhere (maybe even here) that ants are one of the “cleanest” insects. Yes. Remember; they live in colonies, and are therefore potential targets for “crowd diseases” just like humans in cities. They have strong Darwinian reasons to not spread contamination. If it was just one ant, I’d probably eat it, if I liked that kind of cake in the first place. A lot would depend upon the texture/color of the cake; I’d want to be able to see if there were more or not. I’d kill the ant, under the theory that a lone ant is likely a scout and I don’t want it bringing back a few thousand friends. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210/52 "2009-07-10T03:02:22Z")
Sometimes I ignore insects and just eat them, like gnats at a picnic that fly into your mouth. Other times I toss food. This morning I tossed a cherry that had a suspicious hole in it that could have been made by a worm. I have eaten worms on a dare, but don’t like the idea. (They taste like caramel) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-do/502210.md?page=2)