KOMO has a story, with graphic photos, of the gum wall at the Pike Place Market outside the Market Theater. Calling it a "landmark" (and you thought the Ballard Denny's was a stretch!), the story goes on to say that TripAdvisor has compiled a list of the world's "germiest" attractions, from the "copiously-kissed Blarney Stone to Oscar Wilde's tomb (covered with lipstick prints, who knew?) to Seattle's infamous wall of chewed cud. The germy factor seems a stretch, but....

I have to share a gum wall anecdote because I've never had another occasion to use it. I suppose I could wait until I write "Top Ten Moments in Seattle that Made Me Want to Barf," but that's one of those never-get-around-to-it projects. When I was at Seattle Weekly, our offices were downhill from the Market on Post Alley and I used to wander uphill in search of lunch at the Market during the off season (now reduced to January thru February). One day, strolling along, I noticed a man ahead of me. He was a businessman, dressed in a nice suit, his back was to me as we were walking the same direction. When he got to the gum wall, he seemed a little furtive. He stopped, looked it over, then reached out and plucked a wad of chewed gum off, popped it into his mouth, then took off at a brisk pace.

My appetite for lunch eventually came back, but it took awhile.