Natural Selection has been around since the beginning of Life, and it is very much alive among today’s teenagers.
Online trends come and go rather quick, however the “Tide Pod Challenge” has been dominating the World Wide Web lately. The challenge consists of taking a bite out of the laundry detergent while recording one’s self. This phenomenon is fueling parental anxiety as they wonder if they will see their kid on the front page of YouTube, and even Tide has gotten in on the push to “educate” why eating laundry soap is not advised. When I walk through Target and see the forbidden fruit locked up in a security box like a finely aged scotch, I’m depressed to be a part of this generation; however my feelings hastily change from sadness to an insensitive hope. As if the warnings on the packaging are not big enough or bright enough, but the symbol of a skull and crossbones should be enough to stop a soapy meal–even for those that cannot read. Should we let natural selection run its course, then in a matter of years the people that continue to indulge will be improving the gene pool for those of us that know the difference between a Gusher and a Tide Pod.
