Take Care

abundans acutely non nocet
one can never be too careful

Reading the headlines gives me a glimpse of what may or may not be the real story-- if in fact anyone knows the truth. All that the headline does is grab me by the throat and implore me to read further. The tabloid newspapers create a voyeuristic drama out of headlines. They lure a reader on by promising a plethora of scintillating gossip way beyond the average person's personal knowledge.

Once a month Marcel, the eighth grade science teacher, brought a tabloid paper into the teacher's room-- usually at lunch time. He sat down at the head of a long table and began to read the lead story. Soon we all set to discussing the merits of the piece and the possibility of some shred of reality to the story.

My favorite story, which always seems to have as its setting some far off distant location, concerned a woman who ate too many carrots. According to the written story the woman turned bright orange. In fact she turned as bright as cadmium orange. The story set us off on the possibilities inherent in turning the color of other vegetables-- papaya green or purple grape. We all scoffed at the vision of an orange female.

I thought, " abundans acutely non nocet."

It seems that you might turn a yellow-orange if you eat too many carrots--or foods that contain lots of vitamin A.

Even the tabloids sometimes release the truth, but told slant. I checked and indeed people turned orange or yellow orange-- usually on their palms, after consuming large amounts for long periods of time-- but no one seemed to turn neon orange. Too many sweet potatoes can also leave you with a tint.