The Extraordinary Tourist
Squeezing the Toothpaste: A Metaphor
Saturday, March 01, 2008
 I remember when toothpaste was sold in a metal tube. Back then, as a child, you'd cop it from Mum or Dad if you squeezed the tube anywhere but from the bottom. You could even buy special keys that would wind the toothpaste tube up from the bottom so you could get every last bit of paste - no wastage.
Then along came the plastic tubes. Finally you could squeeze anywhere and the tube would retain its shape - or so they said in the sales pitch. For the most part this was true. It wasn't as much of a problem squeezing the new plastic tube from the top. Squeezing toothpaste from the tube was now easy - or so you thought.
The thing about squeezing the tube from the top (or even the middle) is that it leaves some of the paste at the bottom. Eventually you do have to spend extra time pushing the paste from the bottom up into the top of the tube.
Not like the old days when squeezing from the bottom meant you got just the right amount of paste and the tube was always ready for the next person to use. Efficient.
Can the inefficiencies of modern toothpaste tubes be a metaphor for modern times where people often choose the easy option, not realizing that it will actually mean extra work later on? I think so.
The 'easy' option sometimes is deceptive. A little bit more thought can often reveal a better way of doing things that is actually less work.
That's why I still squeeze my toothpaste tube from the bottom (not that this works very well when others in my family don't...*sighs*).Labels: life, observation
Comments:
I remember when toothpaste came in round metal tins with a different colour for each of the flavours ie: red, green, blue!
Gibbs was the brand name. The toothpaste was solid rock texture, and you wet your tooth brush and scrubbed it around the solid paste where it would then foam up! Lasted ages! I think the colours were white, pale green for peppermint, and pink.
Let's not go there too much, though! LOL!! (I think you could get the metal tubes at the time too, but maybe they were a novelty!)
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March 01, 2008 9:21 PM
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