"Why do people walk around with grass sticking out of their mouths?"
There are many theories on this subject. Well, maybe not academically or by many people, but there are many theories in my mind at least. Before I expound upon my theories, let me say that I am not a farmer, however, I do often walk around with grass in my mouth. No, not like a cow, re-chewing it to help me digest such a tough fiber, more like a cow that just took a bite and looks up to see someone passing by that has that one piece of long grass with the flowering head still attached, dangling out of its mouth. You know, like a farmer who is leaning on his fence, looking at the cow, in a relaxed and easy way that says, 'yep I can spend my time just chewing grass too'. I personally often walk around with that piece of grass sticking out of my mouth at a jaunty angle when I am on a leisurely hike or walk. And usually when I am by myself, just because a piece of grass in your mouth could inhibit conversation. Which might be one reason cowboys and farmers like it. For me personally it has started to become a Pavlovian thing. I put grass in my mouth when I hike, simply because I always put grass in my mouth when I hike. Probably the same for a lot of people. Not sure exactly how it started, but once it has I can't hike by grass without sticking a piece in my mouth.
My first theory is oral appreciation. Not necessarily in a Freudian way, but in a sensory awareness way. That's the enjoyment for me at least, picking a tall piece of grass, tasting it subtle flavor. Do you know that different kinds of grass taste differently? Feeling the ridges or lack thereof. Slowly biting down on it as it's been there a while, feeling the fibers of the grass come apart in your mouth. Seeing how long you can hold on to it without biting, then chewing it once there has been a split in the seam of the stalk. Using your lips and tongue to make the grass bounce up and down or side to side, especially satisfying when the seed head is thick and clumped.
My second theory is the "well that's what all the kids are doing these days" theory. Why ever did bell bottoms hit such a high popularity? I bet if you asked a wearer of bell bottoms why they wore them, they might say, "it's in style" or they might say "I just like the way they feel". But when you are NOT a flower child wearing bell bottoms is really sort of weird. There isn't sort of inherent goodness about wearing bell bottomed pants that makes everyone wear them. So when a little cowboy or girl, or a little farmer, sees all the big cowboys and girls and farmers that they admire so much hanging out with a piece of grass sticking out of their mouth they think "that's what I want to look like". Personally for me it was probably my father, or an uncle. Or maybe old western movies. I can't pinpoint it. Though I can say that as children my siblings, cousins and I would walk around with grass sticking out of our mouths, playing with it more, making two strands of grass into giant insect mandibles or trying to "catch" frogs with the dangling, dancing seed head.
I have already alluded to my third theory when I said maybe taciturn cowpeople like an excuse to contemplate the piece of grass in their mouth when they don't want to make idle conversation. Or maybe it is sort of a mind focusing thing, when there is a problem to think over, instead of just standing there, put a piece of grass in your mouth as you think it over. Academics do that with pens or pencils some times, and grass is one of the least noxious things that you can put in your mouth when you are hanging out outside on a farm or ranch.
I leave my last theory last because for one it isn't my theory. I'm not sure how much I believe in this theory, but it IS something that I think about often when I'm chewing on grass. The theory that one of my naturalist friends presented to me is the theory that grass has a certain amount of mind control over humans and other animals to get you to spread their seeds. Think about it, how do dandelion seeds disperse? Wind. Burrs stick on clothes or fur to be dropped off elsewhere. Mangroves grow right in the water where they can drop their seeds to be carried away by a water flow. While grass utilizes a couple methods of seed dispersal, they are not so flighty as dandelion fluff nor protected by a delicious outer coating or can go through a digestive system completely unharmed like an apple for example. No, grasses need to be dispersed by animals that aren't going to completely digest them. Sure that can be a cache by a rodent, or a few seeds that drop out of a birds mouth, but maybe, just maybe that is also by subtly convincing humans to pick up a few seeds, play with them in their hand, or stick a stalk in their mouth and walk away, discarding the seeds to a new location for growth. Grass doesn't hide its seed, it puts them right up there on the top, waving them around for anyone and everyone to see and pick and scatter.
Why is it that farmers, ranchers, cowpeople, and the occasional hiker walk around with grass in their mouth? Your guess is probably as good as mine. Except maybe that I have thought about it a little bit more. I think it's time to go for another contemplative walk, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
