Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Hey, I Want Credit for That!

How do inventors get their ideas? Many were happy accidents. Remember when teachers made students stand at the blackboard for chewing gum? It was probably that kid who was the inventor of the Post-it Note, which was invented from a glue no one could find a use for. What else is he going to think about while he's staring at sticky substances for long periods of time?

Food items were created out of mistakes. Cheese, for instance, was invented by an Arab who put milk into a pouch made from a sheep's stomach. Apparently the heat from the sun transformed chemicals from the sheep's stomach so when he opened the pouch during the journey, he found cheese. I can just picture that vacation. "Dad, are we there yet? I'm thirsty." "Abdul, I'm not telling you again. Get the milk out of the sheep's stomach." "Aw dad, can't you get it for me?" "Look Abdul, if I have to pull the camel over, you're in big trouble."

Now I think my family should get credit for some inventions. I was always looking for ways to save time. I hated plucking my eyebrows so I thought, "why not use dad's razor?" Now here's a tip; don't use a razor that's about an inch wide to shave an area only a half inch wide. My mom freaked out during dinner that night when she looked over and saw both tips of my eyebrows shaved off. I'm sure this incident made someone come up with the idea to wax or thread instead.

My mom also had great ideas to use what was readily available to do tasks. There was the evening my dad needed his coat washed before going to work the next day. It was getting late and he was worried it wouldn't be done in time. My mom is like, "dont' worry, it'll get done." Well, down coats need to be fluffed during the drying cycle. She had heard if you put tennis balls in the dryer they would bounce around and fluff the coat. Not having any tennis balls, she decided apples were the same size and weight, so why not use those? I'm not sure why she didn't realize she wasn't hearing the thump, thump, thump of the apples any more, but when she finally went to get the coat out it had a shiny cast to it. She couldn't figure out what happened until she went to retrieve the apples only to find they weren't there. They had exploded and basically the coat's sheen was from baked on applesauce. We want our percentage for the dryer ball invention.

When I was in junior high, sanitary pads were attached to a belt. Not only was it awkward, I was sure everyone could see the outline of the belt through my pants. So I used safety pins and pinned it to my panties. Great idea until the pin opened up. Hmm, maybe the Post-it Note guy put my concept with his glue and came up with the adhesive sanitary products.

I haven't seen any royalty checks arrive at my door yet, so until then I won't quit my day job and keep on thinking of new ideas.



3 comments:

  1. I remember those belts! I just took the tab that held the pads out and kept resewing them into underwear! Worked great!! (washed them every night tho)
    Now, I'm in diapers, so, who cares??? ;)

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  2. This made me laugh quite a bit...I can't imagine having pads that required a belt. Having your period in middle school was embrassing enough. I wish I could invent things too but I'm much better at finding shortcuts.

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  3. Pretty funny, Carol. I remember all those things ('cause I'm downright ancient) but what I really remember is growing up in the frigid north woods of Minnesota, and having my mom force me to pull long brown cotton stockings over long white underwear without having my legs look like wrinkled tree trunks, in preparation for the trek through the snowbanks, on my way to grammar school! Maybe that's why they invented control top panty hose. :-)

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