Dear LPG, 

Have you noticed just how many things are less evident on our streets lately.  They are there and then they are gone and even though you are looking all the time you don’t notice when they start to disappear.   Do you remember even a decade ago when the streets were covered with something that there seems to be a bit less of these days?  When I was young all the fashionable youngsters in American films did it and so we did too I suppose and the fall out on UK streets seemed to reach its height in the 2nd decade of the 21st century. In my opinion, those little off-white and grubby deposits that use to be all over our pavements can still be seen but are definitely in decline.  I am talking about those little blobs of chewing gum and bubble gum that used to be all over the streets.  

I am not saying that they have completely disappeared but, as a pensioner who looks down quite a bit when walking as I get a bit less sure of my sense of balance, while it is still there, there is a lot less of it or perhaps I am noticing it less.

I noticed that, in Lewisham, you can now be fined £75 if you are caught leaving a lump in the wrong place and also that some London Boroughs are still being given funds to rid the streets of it which might have something to do with my observation. 

I think that over the past few years less people seem to be chewing as they walk the streets.  It used to be something that half the population used to do but perhaps Covid-19 had something to do with its decline.  I was always told that chewing helps the concentration and eased boredom, but perhaps young people think that having your mobile pour the sound of a conversation or music down your ear is the new way to make those concerns go away.

I took a look online and found evidence that some of the companies that make the stuff have shown loss of sales recently.  I also read that chewing can be quite good for you as long as you don’t swallow it and always spit it out (I mean dispose of it responsibly) and be conscious that most chewing gums have quite a bit of plastic in them.  

Apparently, whether you spend your day chewing or blowing bubbles, it promotes the production of saliva in your mouth which helps keep your teeth cleaner and your digestive juices working better, and chewing is also a good way to help your concentration while tricking your brain into needing less real food.  

So, it is good for your teeth, it has been proved to reduce stress and helps to keep your weight down, but for all that, while it was perfectly acceptable to chew a few years ago, there is something unimpressive about greeting someone who says ‘hello’ halfway through a jaw clenching chew.  It also has to be said that chewing with dentures in comes with its own sometimes embarrassing challenges.  

NP, Dartford 

NP shares information about the benefits of gum…

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… and with a little help from LPG, what is being done about the white blob leftovers… 

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