The Five-Second Rule

I found this article in the NYTimes about the five-second rule interesting and amusing. Researchers are trying to quantify just how many germs get on food during the first five seconds it hits the floor. The answer is a lot. I don't see how this is surprising because I didn't think that people really believed the five-second rule meant no harmful germs would be on your food, but rather it was just a psychological coping mechanism. Perhaps I'm wrong, but thankfully there are researchers who will study just about anything to demystify our lives.

This story was amusing to me on a more personal level because the five-second rule has been a running joke between Eddie and me since we moved into this house. There was an incident involving a (very delicious) meatball rolling down our driveway that led into a heated debate about the five-second rule. I'm sure you can easily figure out which side we had each taken. Eddie will gladly recount the full story to you in a dramatic fashion since it has become part of his collection of stories about our relationship.