Okay, people, what the heck is going on with the younger generations? I mean, as parents have we not tried to raise them with self-confidence, respect for others, and the smarts to know what is good versus bad? I know I did the best I could raising my five children and can assure you they would never even entertain the idea of eating Tide Pods which is the latest “challenge” running rampant online.

No joke

My introduction to Tide PODS was a commercial in which the mother is doing laundry while a toddler is sitting on the floor. While the mother goes about folding clothes, she accidentally knocks the container of pods into the basket next to the toddler who is immediately intrigued and begins inquisitively looking at it.

The toddler reaches for the bag of Tide PODS. As the mother picks up the bag of pods and places them on a shelf the commercial voiceover can be heard: “To keep your Tide PODS safe and your children safer, keep the pods out of reach.”

I thought to myself: What parent would be so careless and unobservant of their placement of laundry soap in the first place? It was such an unbelievable scenario; I thought it was a joke. Little did I and the rest of the world know that before long it would require that we keep Tide PODS away from teenagers and young adults as well. Apparently, they do not know any better than their two-year-old counterparts.

This is your body on laundry soap

If you are one of the many who finds the combination of ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, and polymers appealing, I guess there is not much hope of talking you out of trying the “Tide PODs challenge.” As a parent, I would love to take this opportunity to lecture each and every one of you.

Knowing that my lecture would certainly be met with eye rolls, I figure the least I can do is provide the following warnings: ingesting Tide PODS can result in excessive vomiting, drowsiness, throat swelling, difficulty breathing, and loss of consciousness. Serious injury and/or death could also result. How could experiencing those reactions sound even remotely enjoyable?

Put down the PODS

Unfortunately, there will be many that will fall prey to this insane challenge and potentially suffer the worst consequences of doing so. I applaud Proctor and Gamble, the maker of Tide, for teaming up with NFL star Rob Gronkowski to get the word out, in the hopes of ending this challenge. However, may I suggest to all that are even remotely entertaining the idea of ingesting Tide PODS, put the pods down. Be your own person, open a book, play a sport, create something noteworthy. Here is an idea, be constructive with your time, put down the Tide PODS, and put them in a load of laundry instead.
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