Odd Memory

Working on the Grumpy Freak Show, I had to buy a can of spray paint. I went through the self-checkout and the sale didn't immediately go through because they had to check my ID. I couldn't believe I got carded for one can of spray paint. Later, I was talking about it with a friend. I thought it was because they didn't want kids using it for graffiti. (Although any true graf artist would just steal it.) My friend thought it was because kids huff it. Seemed plausable, although I didn't get the metallic paint, which is supposed to give you a much better high.

At any rate, when huffing aerosol was mentioned, I immediately flashed back to 7th grade Science class. Mr. Hoyt, who talked like Elmer Fudd, was lecturing on the harms of drugs and huffing aerosols. He told us a story of one of his previous students who made a habit of huffing aerosols in the bathroom when he got home from school. One day, he began vomiting blood in the bathtub. He was actually vomiting up his lungs. The story never quite rang true to me. Is it actually possible to throw up your lungs? And wouldn't I have heard the story before? Like maybe on a boy scout overnight, "have you heard the one about the kid who barfed up his lungs?"

Then again, the following year, there was a full page photo of a student with the caption "In memory of...." I never knew the kid nor found out how he died. So, I guess maybe it is possible to barf up a lung.