You know what really Grinds my Gears? by Jeffrey J. Thivierge

You know what really grinds my gears….?

The number of bodily cleansing products in my shower….. which is 9.

For some people, that number might not be startling, but for me, it’s slightly disturbing because there are only two people who live full-time in my house.

Growing up, I was the youngest in a family of five people, which consisted of three boys.  We had a standard fiberglass tub.  Nothing fancy.  No tiled benches.  We got fancy when dad got sick of water on the floor and installed a sliding glass shower door for his “numbskull” sons that couldn’t figure out how to keep the shower curtain closed to keep water off the floor.  In our shower, we had three products:  shampoo, conditioner and soap.  These three products were universal and worked for all five family members.

Fast forward 25-30 years.  (That just made me feel old.)

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were on vacation in a foreign country.  On the last day of our trip, I ran out of whatever brand of discount body wash I had been using at the time, so I tossed it out prior to flying home.  Upon our return, I neglected to go to my local big-box retailer to replenish my supply of “manly” body wash/shampoo/conditioner, so I was relegated to using what was available.

Then it hit me yesterday.  Actually, I hit IT yesterday.  As I was climbing into my generic fiberglass shower, I kicked three of my wife’s bath/shower products that had been conveniently lined up on the edge of the tub for her use.  I stood there for a moment, taking count of the number of products that were there.

Facial cleanser.  Shampoo.  Conditioner.  Body wash.  Bar of soap.   Healing conditioner.  Hydrating shampoo.  Shave gel for girls.  More conditioner.  Tweezers.  A pink scrub brush that I can only assume is for fingernails.  Finally, a shower pouf on a stick, which is actually mine because I have bad shoulder and struggle getting those hard to reach areas.

I suppose I’ll end up at the store today using one of my coupons from the newspaper to get whatever is on sale to keep my body and head clean for the next month.  When I run out, I just hope that there are enough of these products left in my tub for me to use until I pick some up at the store.  For some reason, I don’t think that will be a problem.