Here Is a Woman Who Has Eaten More Than 50 Rubber Tires
[There was a video here]
This week's My Strange Addiction was less shocking in concept than usual. There was a woman who ate Vicks VapoRub, which is obviously bizarre, but when she put it in tea, she seemed borderline logical.
The other subject, 19-year-old Allison (as seen in the video above), eats tire shavings, which again is kind of whatever (who hasn't indulged in the oral pleasures of rubber?), except her delivery completely makes her segment worthwhile. The woman is, simply, a star.
The way that she describes her habit really sells it. "A shock to your taste buds!" says Allison. "Kinda like beef jerky with your teeth springing off it!" she adds. "It's workout for your jaw."
The tire-chewing, it turns out, is a very modern way of saving money in these financially strapped times. "I saw some rubber and I was like, 'This could save some money 'cause it's free,'" says Allison of her inspiration to chomp. "So I chewed it, and I don't think I've bought much gum since." Brilliant.
Allison's Elvira to her boyfriend Sammy's Tony Montana — he works at a tire plant and the shavings he brings home feed her addiction. He's against her munching on these "chemically" delights but seems to have not figured out that he'd be able to curb her habit by simply not bringing rubber home. It's a good thing for us, too. If he had stopped, there wouldn't have been a show.
On the effects of her habit, Allison says, "As far as I know what goes in comes out and their ain't no problems in the middle." What a fun, down-home way of putting things into perspective! When she visits the doctor later in the episode and he tells her that what she's doing is dangerous because of the delicious chemicals involved, she's basically like, "Fuuuuuuck." She resolves to go cold turkey but in the brief update that closes her segment, we find that she's merely cut back. Keep on truckin', Al!