Monday, June 15, 2009

Problem Solved

Do you ever wish that you would turn on the TV, and suddenly someone would be handing you a magic wand to solve all your toilet paper hygeine problems? Well these people have got your back(side) covered. Comfortable wiping at your fingertips - or not, rather.

Clearly, it has been a problem for people the world over to have to put up with nasty old toilet paper for more than a century. Because before the advent of toilet paper, it was much easier, right? We had chamber pots we could empty right out the window! Outhouses! Magazines! One older woman I know told me that apparently the last year's phone book came in quite handy.

But the days of relying on manual dexterity are over! And also, I'm sorry to tell you, but your arms are too short. Which is why you need to add 18 inches to your reach. If you ask me, that just makes things more awkward. And I'm not sure that scrunching the paper into a device is going to make the whole process more sanitary. Especially when they note that "scrunching" and "folding" toilet paper are outdated, archaic practices.

Seth Stevenson over at Slate had some words to say about the product, and it's ad, as did Joshua McGuire of Examiner.com.

And the one issue they haven't solved for me: where do you put that handy tool when you're not using it? I'd like to know...



Thank you to Karen {Agent K} in Boston, for submitting!

2 comments:

Brendan said...

I just imagined the sort of person who would need 18 inches of extra reach, in the sort of situation this device is used for, and now I'm scarred for the rest of the day.

Damn you Taylor!

TaylorM said...

I know, right? One blogger on Consumerist had a point, which is that there are certain people who might, for medical reasons, require such a device. I, for one, can't figure out the mechanics of it. Seems to me like having to reach out 18 inches more would increase, rather than decrease shoulder strain, but then, I can't say I've actually tested the merchandise.