Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The Pump

Can anyone explain to me the idea behind lotion with a pump bottle? Or any sort of viscous liquid in a pump bottle for that matter.

Here in Colorado, and probably other arid climates as well, you live and die by your lotion. If you don't use lotion, it is a fact that you will crumble and flake away like ashes from a cremation urn. So we know our lotion here. We buy it in large quantities. Huge bottles with "convenient" pumps.

Convenient, that is, until you get down to the last few ounces. Then you pump and pump, and only receive a spurt, then a small glop for your efforts. Go ahead. Take the lid off. Look inside. Yep! Another week's worth of lotion sitting unobtainably in the bottom of the bottle.

It seems as though Europeans are smarter in this arena. Maybe it's because they've been around longer than us Uhmurikuhns and have become adept at using every last drop of their viscous fluids. In Germany, for example, you can find everything under the sun in a squeeze tube. Mustard, ketchup, mayo -- you name it. Sounds sort of like our toothpaste, doesn't it? You can roll that tube up and eek out the very last smidgen of the stuff.

So why is it we perceive the pump as a luxury, or a convenience? Does anyone else see the frustration and waste with extracting the remnants at the bottom of a pump bottle?

Is it just me??