Public Service Announcement! Be careful how you organize your travel suitcase or arrange the items at your sink. A couple months ago, I joked about accidentally brushing my teeth with Icy Hot, recognizing that the tube of cream looked not different enough from my toothpaste. Well… the other day, I was back in Superior after a trip to Tucson. I woke up groggy and blindly reached into my suitcase, grabbed onto a familiar shape. I put some on my toothbrush and started to do that thing. What you may find surprising is that Icy Hot does not taste so bad that I immediately knew something was wrong. After about ten seconds, I said to myself, “This sure doesn’t taste like my toothpaste.” Soon, I discovered my mistake. Of course, I spat it out and immediately washed my mouth out with listerine. To make this a better story, I’d love to tell you that my mouth was taken over with a sizzling sensation, that my tongue swelled up and I couldn’t talk for most of the day. But my tongue burned for a short while and then subsided. Still, it was a close call and mostly a good laugh. Also, it’s a reminder to check something twice before putting it in your body.
