An Onion In My Sock!

white_onionYou know that bad cold that is going around? That one that doesn’t go away? Yeah, I was in the throes of it when I was told by an employee that if I put an onion in each room of my house, it would suck the toxins right up. The person swore that they hadn’t been sick for years. Every six months or so they throw the old onion away and put a new onion in its place.
As soon as she left my office, I Googled, Can onions cure a cold?

After work I went directly to the grocery store and bought a bag of large white onions.

Antonio and Crystel were skeptical. They asked me what I was doing as I was carrying a bowl with an onion into their bedrooms. I said, “Oh you’ll forget it’s even here.” Antonio hasn’t. He swears he now sees little flies around the house because of the onions.

onion-remediesI need to Google, How to convince a 12-year old boy to believe an Old Wives’ Tale.
I wanted to do this onion business right. I worried that the bowl might be too small for the large white onion. Maybe the onion needed to have space between its outer skin and the bowl to work. And, should I take the sticker off? Would that hurt its effectiveness?

My constant deep cough almost drove me to the next step – cutting the onion into slices at bedtime and placing the slices into the heel of my socks.

I didn’t go that far. I was afraid the smell and not my cold would keep me up all night. Jody had already moved to another bedroom.

cartoon_illustrations_of_wellknown_old_wives_tales_640_35While waiting for the onion to work, I looked up other Old Wives’ Tales.

Don’t swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for seven years. I swallow gum, always have. I don’t know if it has remained in my stomach. Jody can get back to you on that one, if she has an autopsy done after my demise.

Don’t make silly faces or it will make the silly face permanent. My mother used to tell me not to snarl, because it would be permanent. It was permanent all through my teen years.

Shaving makes the hair grow back thicker. I don’t know about this one. I shave once in the spring for my spring cut, mid-summer for my summer cut and that’s about it.

Nosebleeds are a sign of sexual arousal. I got a nosebleed at Tae Kwon Do. I was punched right in the nose by a guy.

Knuckle cracking causes arthritis. I’m cracking my knuckles just thinking about this. So far, so good.

The-Magic-OnionIt’s been two weeks. I still have an onion in every room of my house and one in my office. I have a slight cough. I haven’t seen any flies.

The onions will have to go at some point. But, I just hate to toss them. What if it’s true and that’s why I’m a little bit better?

Comments

6 responses to “An Onion In My Sock!”

  1. Eliza Waters Avatar

    What about the garlic clove worn around the neck? Leo Bascaglia’s mama used to make him and his sibs wear one to school. Talk about making it tough for a kid to fit in! 🙂

  2. Jody diGrazia Avatar
    Jody diGrazia

    Fun story!!!

    Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 15:07:28 +0000 To: jdigrazia22@msn.com

    1. Elizabeth di Grazia Avatar
      Elizabeth di Grazia

      Thanks, Jody!

  3. Valleygrail Avatar

    When my kids were little and got sick, I sliced onions and put them in their socks. They always recovered in a day. Now they think Mom was nuts, but it worked! I had forgotten all about that until reading your post. Think I’ll go buy some onions!

    1. Elizabeth di Grazia Avatar
      Elizabeth di Grazia

      I am glad to know it works. I wonder now if I should have tried it.

      1. Valleygrail Avatar

        Back in the days when one researched at a library instead of Google, I read many books that swore by onions as a home remedy. Especially, sliced and in saucers around the house. I can verify they kept my family healthy. If you are interested, I bet there’s still a lot written about the benefit of onions for healing and health.

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