Swallow chewing gum and die ?

 bought the trident gum this morning in the CVS drug store

    in downtown Providence - along with the Providence Journal and other

    dailies. I thought I'd do my teeth a favor - fight that nasty tartar,

    have  a few teeth left in my mouth before retirement day.

                 THIS never happened before: I suddenly swallowed it ! Having

    been recently hospitalized - with a huge bill - I began to have paranoid

    thoughts. Soon I would experience a full fledged health emergency. The

    ambulance will arrive again. How many guys get admitted to the hospital

    for swallowing chewing gum ? What a loser !

                  But nothing happened YET. I had time to consult the Internet

    at a public library. Thank God for " word search " . I type in

    " swallowing gum " . And instantly an article on just that in " Better

    Homes and Gardens ". Relief !  "  Forget the scary vision of a wad of

    chewing gum bouncing around like a basketball in an empty gymnasium...

    gum passes right on through the intestines. It doesn't stick because it

    is not sticky. "

           Now I won't have to retrieve the rest of the Trident gum from the

    garbage can - for my day in court.