Complete Garbage

This weekend I went on a rare visit to Bed, Bath and Beyond in order to buy a shower gift for a good friend of mine. Since outings to stores these days are rare I took a few moments to see what new products were being marketed. Being the consumer cynic I am, I found myself laughing at many of the products being sold. Even though I wouldn't buy most of the products even if I had the money, I could at least see why someone might want them. But then a product caught my attention: the Rachel Ray Garbage Bowl - a $15-18 bowl for garbage. Brilliant.

I can understand buying a garbage can or a bowl for cooking but this bowl was being sold to be used as a garbage bowl. For those of you unfamiliar with Rachel Ray's revolutionary (to those who hadn't thought of it on their own) idea of having a bowl out where "trash" such as cores of apples, seeds, etc. can be thrown in order to speed up cooking while encouraging orderliness. Not to brag, but I had already come up with the idea years ago and it never occurred to me that I could make some serious money by telling everyone else about it. Of course, I'm not Rachel Ray so no one would have listened but, seriously, who is so dull as to think they need a specific bowl for trash - much less one that costs $15-18.

As I stood there laughing out loud like a crazy woman, I couldn't help but realize how weird I must be if I think it's ridiculous to buy such a product. Somebody must buy them otherwise they wouldn't have a billion of them sitting out. What planet am I on?

Anyway, I pulled myself away from my thoughts and found a nice, practical gift for my sweet friend that she could actually use for a long time if she wanted to. Later that night, I got out a random bowl from my cabinets and used it for trash and didn't feel the least bit sad that I hadn't bought Rachel Ray's.