Caught Up in The Tide
In the last few weeks the news has been blowing up with reports of children and teens going to the hospital, even dying, after eating Tide laundry detergent pods. Brightly colored and looking like candy, it is easy for small children to grab hold of one and put it in their mouth.
But the line is drawn when adults and teenagers do it on purpose, knowing that the pods are not candy, but are filled with toxic chemicals that can cause life-threatening breathing problems, damage to the esophagus from the corrosive ingredients, burns, blood pressure changes, gastrointestinal problems and neurological symptoms, including loss of consciousness.
So why are people doing this, even though the package has specific directions not to. To answer this question, Urbana High School sophomore Sonia Patel had to first know about the issue. After explaining, she said that people are doing this “because they are stupid”. Some student, such as senior Dan Wachtel, confronted the issue with humor, saying “ Why eat Tide pods when you can go to the chocolate fountain under your car, or have some Downy Dippin’ Dots.” That got a big laugh out of his table mates.
Tide has since reminded the public NOT to ingest the pods, and if you do, to call your local poison control center. YouTube has also removed all videos of the “ Tide pod challenge”, as it conflicts with its policies. So as a reminder, do not eat laundry detergent. It will possibly kill you.
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Good article Cassidy. Really liked it, had a nice sense of humor. But people do need to understand how serious it is to do the challenge. Maybe next time have the phone number to poison control because some people may not know the phone number, with Tide pods it would be a life or death situation.