Design sleep

I think it is a cruel tactic to throw me off my game. I am the supermarket shopper in the family. I know my local market, I don’t usually require a shopping list, and I always use a hand basket knowing it will not be big enough. I shop fast, darting up and down aisles, snatching the exact product with barely a pause and dropping it in my basket. Until I reach the toothpaste. I stop in front of Colgate. Hmm. There’s a lot of it. One has to walk up and down and look up an down.  There are thirty six different Colgate toothpastes to choose from. I’m driven to a drawn out stop. Ah. I need Band Aids. Just a standard cut and scrape Band Aid. Thirteen choices in that category. Some washing detergent? I use Tide.  And tend to always buy liquid. Sixteen choices of Tide in liquid form there. And so on. Design Observer recently posted a Lost in the Supermarket piece about updated containers and “grippy” toothbrushes. The toothbrushes are absurd. I can’t believe the bristles are mostly rubber. Designers who cringe make these things. Then again, maybe they don’t. I want to meet the toothpaste taste testers. These people need examination. Imagine having lunch with them. So spend the money, get a great electric toothbrush, buy a great toothpaste and you’ll be happy to stroll down the detergent aisle.