You know those free toothpaste samples you get from the dentist? I'm not sure what normal people do with them, but our family has just been collecting them. There is a plastic bin in the bathroom closet with the free samples of toothpaste, toothbrushes, picks and floss.
As we are a family of four, that means we've been collecting these eight times a year. So the box started getting a little full.
I stood there, pondering these as I was about to reach in and grab a full-sized tube of toothpaste.
Well, to use them, I guess.
But why aren't we using them?
If we use them, they'll go away.
Are you going to be sad that that tiny tube of free toothpaste is gone?
I can use them or .... throw them away, I guess...
Do you see yourself throwing them away?
Not really, that would be wasteful.
Is keeping them and not using them wasteful?
Yeah, that's just as bad as throwing them away.
So if you use them, it's good.
Are you going to keep them?
Good, last question, what are you reaching for.
This tiny tube of sample toothpaste.
I'm glad we had this talk.
Since then, my wife and I have had this unspoken agreement to use up the tiny tubes and have just about emptying the bin. Maybe it is the completionist in me, but I am feeling a strange sense of accomplishment in this simple act.
PS: I showed this to my wife before I posted it.
"I hate the tiny tubes, but I understood what you were doing. I have been using three times as much toothpaste to finish this up faster."