Envelope Glue

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi everyone. I just received this e-mail from a friend of mine. The following information is supposed to be true. Please read:

I used to work for an envelope company. Our plant supervisor used to
work in
the Chicago plant and told us not to lick the envelopes because they
would
often find dead rats at the bottom of the glue barrel (after
thousands of
envelopes had been glued and shipped). EEWW!
------------------------------------------------------
I work in a factory and we have 2 employees who used to work in an
envelope
factory. They told me that when the machine jams up, they use
whatever water
is handy to thin out the glue. This includes water that they just
mopped the
floor with. Since then, I've avoided licking envelopes...
-------------------------------------------------------------
1.) If you lick your envelopes... You won't anymore!!! A woman was
working
in a post office in California. One day she licked the envelopes and
postage
stamps instead of using a sponge. That very day the lady cut her
tongue on
the envelope. A week later, she noticed an abnormal swelling of her
tongue.
She went to the doctor, but they found nothing wrong. Her tongue was
not
sore or anything. A couple of days later, her tongue started to swell
more,
and it began to get so sore, that she could not eat.

She went back to the hospital, and demanded something be done. The
doctor
took an x-ray of her tongue and noticed a lump. He prepared her for
minor
surgery. When the doctor cut her tongue open, a live cockroach
crawled
out!!!! There were roach eggs on the seal of the envelope. The egg
was able
to hatch inside of her tongue, because of her saliva. It was warm and

moist...
This is a true story reported on CNN.
-----------------------------------------------------------
2.) Andy Hume wrote: "Hey, I used to work in an envelope factory. You

wouldn't believe the things that float around in those gum applicator
trays.
I haven't licked an envelope for years!"

-----------------------------------------------------------
3.) To All: I used to work for a print shop (32 years ago) and we
were told
NEVER to lick the envelopes. I never understood why until I had to go
into
storage and pull out 2500 envelops that were already printed for a
customer
who was doing a mailing and saw several squads of roaches roaming
around
inside a couple of boxes with eggs everywhere. They eat the glue on
the
envelopes. I think print shops have a harder time controlling roaches
than a
restaurant. I always buy the self-sealing type. Or if need be, I use
a glue
stick to seal one that has the type of glue that needs to be wet to
stick.
-----------------------------------------------------------

PLEASE PASS THIS ON, if you like TO YOUR FRIENDS. After reading this
you will never lick another envelope or stamp ever again.

Have a nice day, & keep your tongues where they belong!


I don't think that I'll ever be licking any envelopes again.

[janelle]

Well that isn't as bad as eating food with bug eggs in it or dead bugs. We do that all the time, hate to tell you. LOL

I lick my envelopes unless i have several hundred to glue. I had to do 800 for a Christmas mailing for a company. I was afraid I would glue my innards together if I licked them so got a water bottle. Its just a little bottle but I'd use it in a store or company that have lots of letters to send out.

I think the roach story is an urban legend. Too unbelievable but a boy did have a worm taken out of his eye. Go to the web site for pics.

[IRescue452]

As a roach lover I can tell you that roach eggs are huge and couldn't be hidden in any way on envelope glue. I do however believe the stories about dead rats and other such animals. I work in a textbook packaging place in the summer. When we get in display boxes for schools they are covered in dead rodents and all sorts of bugs and dirt that we just sweep away and stick the books in. Also when we get papercuts we don't throw out boxes with a little bit of unnoticable blood on them and I know most people there don't wash their hands often after sneezing and the like. I wash my hands after going to stores because if I touched any packaging I don't know where its been. I also wipe my textbook covers with disinfecting wipes when I get them. I'm not yet to a point of obsessive cleanliness but getting close everytime I see somebody sneeze all over the packages at work.

[catnapper]

I've seen that before, and somebody said it wasn't true. Still, it makes you think, doesn't it?

[Cataholic]

the envelope glue is an urban myth. Go see: www.snopes.com

[CathyBogart]

Cataholic, you beat me to it.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yeah! I'm so glad to hear that it isn't true. I was hoping that it wasn't.

[pitc9]

I know it's an urban myth.... but I still don't lick my envelopes!

[Cataholic]

Originally posted by WolfChan
Cataholic, you beat me to it.

I am the professional myth buster here at work. Nearly once a week I get the "did you hear..." in the email...he he he

[Luvin Labs]

www.snopes.com is a great site

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/poison/envelope.htm

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/food/tacobell.asp

DOH Cataholic

Same here, on some other boards... a few of us try to beat each other with the snopes

[Kater]

Okay, I posted about this on a similar Feb. 12 thread by Kimlovescats. There is some truth to the part labeled number 3! I think those of you in warm climates should take heed...

We've confirmed that no one had roach eggs hatch inside their tongue, but - it is absolutely true that given the opportunity roaches will eat the glue off of stamps and envelopes. (!!!)

Hawaii has a lot of roaches and in our first few years of living here we noticed that our envelope glue was disappearing. At some point, we opened the stationary supply drawer to find the little buggers in the act! Needless to say, we use the self-sealing types now. Now, I don't know if other colder places have such a roach problem, but if you've so much as seen a roach in your house I would bet that he'd love to find your stationary supplies and have a sticky snack!

It’s common knowledge that a lot of these e-mails are just tall tales… however they generally originate from some kernel of truth. Pay attention to the kernel, folks.

[jenluckenbach]

And I just got done licking envelopes.

I think I will go wash my mouth out with soap.

[Cataholic]

Dearest Kate,

I KNEW we had just had this discussion, but, I couldn't remember who first educated us on the topic.

Now that I remember it was you, I bow to your first hand knowledge of roachiness. That just might be the only thing that mars your beautiful state. He he he...