This experience involves a certain amount of ick, so don't read it if you think that's going to be TMI.


I never really thought about danger associated with movie popcorn. I mean, really - it's popcorn, not coleslaw. So I thought nothing of it when I was merrily munching some during Spider Man 2 (which was, in fact, quite worth going to.) However, about an hour afterwards I began to experience the first sign of digestive woe. A little nausea, nothing major. So I had some tea and played some Lord of the Rings monopoly. The nausea grew steadily worse, now accompanied by intestinal spasms. And through it all, I kept having the most awful taste of movie popcorn butter in my mouth. I tried baths, I tried air blowing in my face, I tried alternative medicine. No effect. Finally, at 11, I tried going to sleep. This seemed to make things worse. So I got up, bedraggled and nauseated, and sat with the cats while I tried not to think about how much my viscera hurt. Then, boom! I deposited a very popcorn-smelling bundle into the toilet at 1:15am. And felt tons better.

I can only suspect that the culprit was the movie popcorn. But I keep trying to figure outwhat could have caused the food poisoning (assuming that's what it was) - rancid butter? Does movie popcorn butter go bad? For some reason, I thought it had the shelf life of those spray butter cans, which seem to last forever.

But meanwhile, I vow to no longer buy movie popcorn - this experience is not one I want a repeat of.