What Constitutes Something You Didn't Know You Needed...

On Saturday, I was out shopping at one of those gigantic electronics stores when I walked past the dreaded "impulse buy" items, brilliantly displayed in all their "You Sooooo Need To Buy Me" glory.

M&Ms, Snickers, USB Flashdrives, CD Players, Blanks CDs and DVDs were splayed out all the way to the checkout line -- as if you could in fact buy EVERYTHING you needed without actually having to walk INSIDE the rest of the store.

Of course, not only do they attack you in the line, but they've even got one item that sits on the checkout counter. It's like, "In case you didn't know you needed all the other plethora of items, this one you CAN'T leave the store without!"

Mine happened to be the one displaying Nose Hair Trimmers.

Nope, not a typo -- NOSE HAIR TRIMMERS! Those little electric trimmers that cut down the rain forest of follicles residing primarily in male nostrils. Someone at the Corporate Office must be thinking, "Gentleman, men are DEMANDING nose hair trimmers at an alarming rate, and we gotta help them out now! - whether they know they need them or not."

Now, I've never had a strong urge to buy a nose hair trimmer, nor have I had any buddies that have said, "Gee, I really wish there were electric nose hair trimmers at checkout so I could buy it with my Mountain Dew and GRAB BAG of Doritos." In fact, I don't think I have any male friends that have ever admitted to owning one - and if they did, they aren't telling the whole world their business.

This would explain why the trimmers were still fully stocked on each counter that had them. They also placed them with all the really cute female cashiers, so that had probably made the male customers a bit self-conscious in wanting to purchase one - gee, I wonder why? Not to say it wouldn't feel weird if buying them from a male cashier, but hey - we are strangely macho like that...

I do applaud the forward thinking that's gone along with this bold choice in impulse buy. No longer will the nose hair trimmer be subjugated in the back along with Schick razors and Nair hair remover - no, it will not be ignored any longer. Who knows? The follicle-free male nose could be the modern day counterpart to the female's "Brazilian". And if that day has come, I know at least one store that's ready for the trend... ;)