Used up and thrown away...

(Note: the title of this entry is not talking about me specifically, but rather something I'll mention later in the post. Have no fear, I'm not used up yet!) :)

I know, I said I'd be blogging on Sundays. Well, it's a holiday weekend, and tonight feels like Sunday to me, so tonight is when I shall blog. Besides, last night I had far better things to do than blog... like watch TV. :)

The past week has started to feel a little more like I'm back to school. I was doing homework-y type things, working at the library when there were actually people to help, and even starting to get on the practice bus. (Kinda like the clue bus, but for practicing.) Plus, we had the year's first SAI meeting, which is always a good time. I missed my ladies! People are working really hard already, and I think this is going to be a fun and productive year. These ladies are really a remarkable group, and I'm glad to know every one of them. (And we'll be adding more soon, which is always wonderful!)

Now, on to the title of this week's piece... I was using one of those fun disinfectant wipes the other day while I was cleaning the bathroom. You've probably seen the ads... you pull one out of a fun pop-up container, use it to wipe off whatever foul substance has grown on your counter, and then throw it away. Now, as I pulled the wipe out, I noticed on the label that these wipes were "Now Quilted!" I looked at the wipe, and sure enough, there's a little squary pattern. Now, this led me to think about two things. First, has anyone else noticed how much work companies are putting into making disposable products seem more substantial? Wipes with quilting... paper towels with "absorbing pockets"... and it seems to happen to cleaning products a lot. It'll wash your car, pick up your dry cleaning, and babysit your kids, all while absorbing your spilled grape juice. And then you just throw it away!! A miracle! The second thing I thought of was, do features like this actually give a product a leg up with the American consumer? When you go shopping, and you're considering two brands of disinfectant wipes, is the ultra-swank quilting really the dealbreaker? Maybe I have a skewed perspective, cause we were a get-whatever's-on-sale-or-the-generic-if-it's-cheaper kind of family, but are consumers really paying this much attention to something they use for 10 seconds and throw away? And is this why we're not watching our kids anymore, because we're too busy trying to decide between absorbing pockets and absorbing ripples? Is this just another tell of our crumbling society? Or is it time for me to move to another aisle?

Anyway folks... have a wonderful week... keep it posted for next week's fun events, like Humpin the Al, Screaming Like the Band Freak I Am, and maybe even the Aren't the Flowers Pretty? hat trick. :)