Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Evil Toilet Paper And One Hundred

If you haven't noticed it, you will soon. It's happening all around you. What am I talking about? Getting less for your money, of course.

I noticed it a while back when I was putting a new roll of toilet paper in the holder. I took the empty tube off and set it on the vanity next to the new roll. There was a height difference of about 1/4 inch between the two rolls. The new roll had come from a just-opened package, so some time between purchasing the two packages, the company started making the rolls shorter (or narrower, depending on your perspective) and charging the same amount. I always buy one specific brand of toilet paper, but I'd be willing to bet that all brands are making their rolls smaller. In fact, stop reading this right now and go look at the toilet paper in your bathroom. Even if you don't have an old roll to compare it to, you'll notice that there is more room to slide the roll back and forth on the holder than there used to be. Seriously, go look. Am I right or am I right?

Whether we need wider toilet paper or not isn't the issue (and really, I don't want to know about the scientific testing they do to determine how wide toilet paper should be, I'm still dealing with the bathroom habits of the cartoon bears in those commercials), it's all about getting what you pay for.

Toilet paper isn't the only product getting smaller. I noticed that the pretzels I buy now come in a 15 oz. bag instead of a 16 oz. bag for the same price. Ditto with tortilla chips. Ice cream is smaller now, too. What used to be a full quart is now labeled as .75 quart. We don't eat a lot of ice cream so I have no idea how long ago that happened. I'm sure most of the products I buy are shrinking even though I haven't noticed.

What's funny/evil about it is that they don't seem to make the packaging any smaller, just the product inside. I don't think they want us to notice we're getting less. When was the last time you saw "Now 25% Less" promoted on any package? If you feel like you're going through groceries faster than you used to, you probably are because you're buying less but spending the same amount.


One Hundred

This post is sort of a milestone for me. It's my 100th post. When I realized that I was coming up on 100, I thought I should chose a topic that was special in some way; a really funny story, perhaps or something deep and moving. Then I considered a favorite recipe or cocktail. In the end, I chose toilet paper. Go figure! It's what was on my mind today and that tends to be how I chose what to blog about.

I would have thought that I'd be out of ideas for blog topics by now, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I find myself mentally composing blogs all the time. Some of them get posted, others never make it past editing when I decide they aren't as interesting as I thought they would be.

I appreciate all of you who read my blog and take the time to comment. I'm happy to have followers as well as those who stumble into my "Willoughby World" by some other means. If no one was reading it, I probably wouldn't take the time to write it and I do enjoy writing it.

Of all the different things I've wanted to do in my life, one thing has never changed. I've always liked to write. Truth being told, my husband gave me this laptop for my birthday a few years ago so that I could write the book I've always wanted to write. It's a story that's been kicking around in my head for years, gnawing at me to put it on paper. Every now and then I take a stab at it, but I'm my own worst critic and end up editing it into oblivion. Writing this blog keeps my creative juices going and gives me some hope that someday I might just be able to finish that story.

Thanks, again, for stopping by. I hope you'll keep coming back!

10 comments:

abby jenkins said...

Happy 100th! Does that mean this is actually your 98th and you though we wouldn' t notice? Just like those crafty folks at Scott's.

I am always amazed at how few ounces of coffee you get in a "1 lb" bag. What are they down to 10oz now?

Happy Happy!

Heidi said...

Maybe all the companies will realize we have caught on to what they are doing so they will stop cutting the sizes down... I doubt it, but it was a thought! Before long we will open a bag of chips and there will only be chip flavored air. We can breath it in and pretend we ate the chips.
Congrats on your 100th! Keep on writing and we'll keep reading. Have you taken any writing classes? I took some before Chase was born and had so much fun! I submitted to some magazines and had one thing published. I would love to write a trashy romance novel or a cookbook, but I can never seem to get started. I wish I had an editor for a friend :)

L.B. said...

Willoughby, Congrats on the 100-post milestone. I remember back on AR when you compiled the blog list and how a lot of us were just starting off on this blogging adventure. You've come a long way :)

Unknown said...

Dittos on your milestone! I always enjoy your posts and hope to be around when you post your 1000th! And here's a quick, although gentle, }}KICK{{ in the boohonkus to get that book down on paper! I can't wait for the time when we can say "We knew Willoughby when...."

Purple Flowers said...

1. Congratulations on your 100th
2. I am not surprised if the 'less for the same price' happened a long time ago, and we consumers are too busy to notice, and that makes the manufacturer's very happy.
3. WRITE THAT BOOK! At least type out some notes you have kicking around in your head. You'll be glad you did. You write well, and if you have an idea for a book, RUN, don't walk and make it happen. Live out this passion; it's within your reach. And I will stop preaching now. Take Care. :)

thrasherswife said...

Happy 100th!!

Debbie said...

I just bought toilet paper tonight and noticed the same thing. CRAP! (no pun intended )
Happy 100th.

Donna-FFW said...

Congrats on your 100th!! Yes, Inoticed toilet paper has gotten smaller plus kielbasa, candy bags, and some chips. It really bites. gets smaller, but costs more.

As for your writing, go for it. Go for it. If its inside, let it oout while it wants to come out. Youll do wonderfully!

Jeff9 said...

This covers all the bases = saves you money, helps the environment, helps your health, makes you feel better, it's so easy to do and it costs less than $50.00; Save money and the Earth and be clean at the same time! Add Bathroom Bidet Sprayers to all your bathrooms. I think Dr. Oz on Oprah said it best: "if you had pee or poop on your hand, you wouldn't wipe it off with paper, would you? You'd wash it off” Available at http://www.bathroomsprayers.com with these you won't even need toilet paper any more, just a towel to dry off! Don’t worry, you can still leave some out for guests and can even make it the soft stuff without felling guilty. It's cheap and can be installed without a plumber; and runs off the same water line to your toilet. You'll probably pay for it in a few months of toilet paper savings. And after using one of these you won't know how you lasted all those years with wadded up handfuls of toilet paper. As for water use a drought is always a concern and must be dealt with prudently but please remember that in the big picture the industrial water users always far exceed the water use of household users and in the case of toilet paper manufacture it is huge. The pollution and significant power use from that manufacturing process also contributes to global warming so switching to a hand bidet sprayer and lowering your toilet paper use is very green in multiple ways. Blog; THE BUTT OF TOO MANY JOKES;http://jeff9.livejournal.com/1603.html

BashfulToast said...

Wow, only you would notice those things! Just kidding. I looked tho and my tp is smaller. Haha.

HAPPY 100th POST!!! YAYY!!