Small, round foods are frightening? Dogs are overrated? Here are some of East’s most unpopular opinions.

Charlotte Hawes

Braces were one of the worst things to curse my middle school years. Every few months at my ortho check-up, the pastel-blue-dressed assistant would pull out the thing that still makes me shudder when I close my eyes — the tooth mold tray. An experience worse than death. 

For people fortunate enough to never have braces, tooth molds are an impression tray filled with a gummy substance that surrounds your teeth and hardens after a few minutes, leaving a replica of your teeth’s shape and alignment.

Sophomore Charlotte Hawes is on the side of the teeth molding argument that I will never get behind.

“Everyone I talk to says, ‘Oh my gosh, I hate when the orthodontist does that,’” Hawes said, “But I like it.”

After hearing that Hawes enjoyed the teeth mold, I couldn’t help but tell everyone I knew. Every person reacted with the same dropped jaw — just like those memories of the assistant saying “open up.“

For me, the worst part is the last few seconds of the experience, when the gooey substance has hardened and it’s time for the mold to come off. When the hygienist would begin to loosen the tray, I’d always be scared that my teeth were being pulled out. 

But for Hawes, it’s the best part. 

“It’s such a weird sensation but my teeth feel so good after,” Hawes said.

How she can possibly enjoy an experience that haunts my dreams will forever baffle me, but hey — to each their own.     

Pacey Salzman

After walking into the dance team room every morning, I always look at the ‘Meet the Team’ poster hung up on the wall. 

I’ve already read each dancer’s fact under their portrait multiple times — it’s a routine now. But senior Pacey Salzman’s ‘I’m scared of small, round foods’ is always one I’ve wanted to know more about. 

“I’m not really scared of them, but I really hate seeing them,” Salzman said.

The discomfort around small round foods comes from then-six-year-old Pacey’s bad dinner experience with a prime example of a small and round food — green olives. While green olives were already a food she already wasn’t fond of, the long-living ‘fear’ came after her sister got sick from eating too many.

Out of every small and round food item she could think of, Salzman finally narrowed it down to the worst of the worst.

The word ‘grapes’ came out with a shudder and grimace.

“The small roundness combined with grapes,” Salzman said, “It just grosses me out.”

When I tried to understand Salzman’s hate for small round foods, I assumed this just meant things like grapes and olives. I imagined peas, blueberries, tomatoes — anything edible that forms a round shape.

Which is why balled melon tripped me up.

“Regular melon is fine, but if it’s balled I won’t eat it,” Salzman said. “Cherry tomatoes: I’ll eat them if they’re cut in half, but I won’t eat them whole.”

Once again I was left fascinated, wondering if I’ll ever feel uncomfortable around small round food — or maybe big square food? I mean, you never know when your sister will throw up her meal and fuel a new phobia.

Ajay Lohr

Every Sunday, I take my little sister to Petland to get our puppy fix.

Since I can’t have a dog because my dad is allergic (thanks a lot), I’m jealous of pretty much everyone who does.

So when I began to think of out-of-left-field opinions, the first — and definitely most bizarre — one I could think of was having a problem with puppies.

And my culprit came to me after Ajay Lohr answered Mrs. DiGirolamo’s question of the day.

His answer left me desperate to know how someone could possibly dislike the cute fur-balls that I enjoy so much.

Lohr is visually impaired, which leads many people to believe that he would use a dog as an extra pair of eyes. But Lohr never has and doesn’t plan on it.

“They’re always going to be in need of attention,” Lohr said.

I have always had the urge to hug every dog I see. They’re furry, soft and so darn cute. It’s just too hard to walk away: which makes me exhibit A of what Lohr dislikes about the furry friends.

“You could pet a dog for twenty-five minutes,” Lohr said. “But the second you walk away they’ll be upset.”

He had a good point there. But if I’m honest, I don’t plan on denying the next puppy I see of hours on end of pets and hugs.