Informant Background:

This informant is a sophomore at USC in the Naval ROTC program. She grew up in Pennsylvania in a middle class family. As a child she enjoyed all things sci-fi and fantasy, and in high school she developed a passion for the military in JROTC.

Informant’s Story:

“When I was little I used to love popcorn and would always sit with my face against the microwave staring at the bag as it slowly rotated and started to pop. It was like TV for me. That is, until my mom told me that I could fry my brain and go blind. I was so terrified of the microwave, I wouldn’t even  look at it from any less than five feet away.”

Analyses:

It is generally inadvisable to look directly into a microwave when it is on, however, it will not force you to go blind and fry your brain. The way a microwave works is that it uses radio waves to force the water molecules in the food to vibrate, thus creating heat. These radio waves or “microwaves” are no more dangerous than the radio waves used by walkie talkies and other communication devices (provided you’re not actually in a device that uses microwaves, such as industrial sized wood curing machines).