> I suspect (hope!) most people understand that the theory behind the five second rule is illogical. The people I've seen *use* the five second rule to justify eating something freshly dropped are intelligent and invoke the rule for humorous rather than serious purposes. But that's what makes the whole thing all the more fascinating to me. It *is* a joke that is illogical, the people that use it *know* it's a joke that's illogical -- they're not being duped -- and yet still it is conceivable that it is something that would seem to change people's attitudes simply by being an idea that now has a name.

I've always thought that picking up and eating food I drop on the floor is OK (as long as it doesn't gather visible dirt or dust), but it's still not easy to do so if I'm in the company of people I know *don't* think it's OK. I suspect this is the way many people feel: Alone, they could eat almost anything off the floor (okay, slight exaggeration there), but when others are watching, they follow "code" and throw it away instead.

So what I believe is happening, is that someone finally makes a public statement that "it's okay!", which is what most people think anyway, and then adds the five second limit to it to give it a "hook".

Trav"poll material, maybe?"holt