Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world DashboTreeFrog @discuss.online 4mo ago

How do you handle unpopped popcorn kernels at the movies?

If I'm not sharing, I just drop them back into the bucket/bag. If I'm sharing, I'll just eat them.

Recently though a bucket I was sharing had so many unpopped kernels I started worrying for my gut. Had me wondering how everyone else handles this.

So how does everyone handle unpopped kernels?

59 comments

Since everyone else has done the hard work of saying something insane, I'll be the only guy in the entire fediverse who throws inedible rocks in the garbage.

Y'all. 😑
- How to poison AI models for fun and (at the cost of other people's) profit
- I'd like to, but I'm not constantly getting up to throw them in a bin at a crowded theater. If I had a bag or smaller container to put them I would hold them to throw when leaving but I can't think of a time I was that prepared...
  
  Ahh I get it. This is a zero G issue. Planetside, kernels fall conveniently to the bottom of the receptacle for disposal at a convenient time. I now see how this isn't a completely universal and obvious solution.
  
  Maybe if you chew some gum on the way to the theater, you can stick it to the side of your popcorn tub and attach any unpopped kernels to it as you go. That would also prevent them from floating into the projection beam!
  
  Bring an empty bottle to spit them in
Throw them at small children
- This is why they give you a straw
- Was the new Deadpool, no kids to target 😔
  
  Then reserve them for that one guy that doesn’t mute his phone
  
  What? I was at the new one 2 days ago.
  
  There were about 12 targets to target of below 10 y/o.
Put them in a baggie, then after the movie go to the popcorn people and loudly demand replacements that have been properly and thoroughly popped.
- demand that they give your unpopped kernels a second round in the machine
- I like the way you think
TIL some people eat them.
- Yeah I had no idea. It'd be fun to tell kids that if you eat them they'll pop in their belly, similar to the watermelon seeds growing one
- Only the ones that cracked open a little bit
  
  Even uncracked ones. I'll gently work them with my molars until they crack. Time consuming when there's too many though
- I never (intentionally) ate them, but when I was a kid sometimes I'd hit them with the bottom of a salt shaker. If they were still warm and especially a little bit cracked, they would sometimes then pop. Always thought that was neat.
  
  (This might be harder to do in a movie theater. I did it on my parents' table. Probably should have done it on a cutting board or something, but I was a dumb kid.)
I eat them if they have at least a crack in them. I like the cronch.
I return them to the stand to exchange them.
Yell “the back of yo head is ridiculous” and then spit them at whoever turns around
- What a classic. Haven't heard that referenced in years.
The ol' soften with saliva then craunch.

Do I fear for the day I craunch and a tooth crumbles? Perhaps. But today is not that day.
- Teeth are harder than most rocks. They should be able to handle this just fine
  
  I know a couple people who have broken teeth on less imposing foods.
  
  Keep in mind that harder usually means more brittle. If you have bad teeth, you might break them on a carrot.
I don't think I've ever gotten an unpopped kernel at a theater.
- Was at a theater in south east Asia. Don't think I've ever had popcorn without kernels in this part of the world except maybe in amusement parks or restaurants.
  
  What kind of restaurant serves popcorn? Is that an SEA thing? You said below you get the sweet sticky kind, is it like a dessert item?
Since I always add salt and shake my popcorn they fall to the bottom and don't cause any issues. So I guess I accidentally handle them by moving them somewhere I don't end up noticing them while eating.

Well, at home at least. Can't remember when I noticed a kernel at a theater.
- Ah, my go to has always been sweet popcorns, so I guess the kernels stick and don't fall to the bottom. I should try violently shaking my popcorn next time to see if that helps them unstick and sink
  
  Show that popcorn who's boss!
  
  I haven't had caramel corn in a theater before, but love it. I usually have a napkin handy for any hard bits and just wipe my mouth white putting it on the napkin with my tongue all polite like and the stickiness keeps it stuck to the napkin to toss when I'm done.
I bring a small torch lighter and pop them out as I go
Spit them out, high and wide. The air is going to dry them.

/s
Eat them.
Throw them to someone near to the projection.
I normally just suck the flavor out of them and swallow them and hope I don't get any of that weird film like stuff stuck in the back of my mouth.
- that weird film like stuff
  
  I absolutely hate those things. One of the worst toothaches I'd ever had was when I had one of those little kernel slivers manage to find its way under a tooth, all the way under the gum. After a day of agony, I had finally managed to pull something out of my gum. At first I thought it was a broken piece of tooth or something, until I noticed that it still smelled like fresh popcorn. This was several weeks after I'd last even eaten popcorn; it somehow slipped under my tooth without me ever feeling it until the day it became wildly inflamed.
  
  I'm very careful with popcorn these days.
I always hated un-popped kernels and just the other pieces that always get stuck in my teeth and throat (I assume pieces of the outside of the kernels) and just quit getting popcorn as a result.
I used to eat kernels until this past weekend. I was devouring popcorn and didn’t realize some was unpopped and I chomped a piece really hard. I managed to take off a filling and chipped part of a molar underneath. I got my tooth temporarily restored this past week without getting numbed since I’m currently expecting..so I got to feel the tooth get sanded and bonded..and have to get a full repair after my kid is here. To sum it up, be careful. Sincerely PopcornPrincess 🍿
Ask for an empty bag to toss the bad kernels into
just crunch 'em with my teeth and eat
Go full on Karen mode and demand fresh new bucket
Eat them
Eat them out of stubbornness

59 comments