Single use gadgets, and my detest thereof………
I felt just a bit guilty as I made my way through last week’s International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago. Exhibitors, especially the inventors with one or a very few products, are so eager to talk about their product and get the word out. And the guilt comes from my conviction that 80% of these single use gadgets are completely unnecessary.
My organizing mantra is “find a place for everything and keep everything in its place”. The key to efficient organization is to remember where the “place” is that everything belongs. The less you have to remember, the more organized your spaces will be. If you only use something once a year or maybe less often than that, it is really tough to remember where it “lives” in your storage places. Christmas decorations and Thanksgiving dishes are different — you usually have a number of those items that are grouped together and stored in the “Christmas” boxes or on the uppermost shelf where you will climb next Thanksgiving to retrieve the huge platter and the gravy boat. But little gadget-y things that hardly ever get pulled out just create a jumble. They take up valuable storage space in your closet or your kitchen and then when you actually get around to making a cupcake tree, you absolutely cannot remember where the little cupcake stand thingy lives. You remember you bought it once upon a time because you thought it was a cool idea, but where the heck is it??? This also creates stress in your life trying to keep up with all this incidental, miscellaneous CRAP!
After reviewing dozens and dozens of booths and products at IHHS, I must say you do NOT need a:
Cupcake corer — just use a sharp paring knife. The only person who would need one of these is one of those cupcake bakers who has a cute cupcake shop and appears on Cupcake Wars. The average person does not need to allocate valuable and scarce drawer space to a cupcake corer.
Egg Yolk Separator device — Ummm, isn’t that what the half eggshell is for? Even if you make an egg white omelet every morning of your life, you do NOT need a special contraption for this. In fact, if you do make an egg white omelet every day, you should be quite proficient at using the half eggshell.
Special apple keeper — this one is just silly — what about oranges, pears, or berries? Wouldn’t they then require the same special treatment as apples? Where would this end????? Just use a plastic container with a lid, or better yet, just eat the apple. What are you keeping it for?
Butter Genie — seriously people, just use a knife. If your knife skills are so remedial that you cannot cut butter, you might be safer just staying out of the kitchen altogether. (By the way, this was a special cutter that clamped down on a stick of butter to cut it into little butter slices.)
Wool Dryer Balls — these things were everywhere. I think a plain old used tennis ball would work just fine if you really need something thumping around in your dryer.
These single use gadgets are the equivalent of those fancy Edwardian era sterling silver implements.
“What is this Jeeves?”
“Well sir, that is a angel food cake server, not to be confused with a large hair comb”
So people, help yourselves stay organized and do NOT succumb to the temptation of buying a “Kale and Greens stripper” — SERIOUSLY!
