Kudos to the marketing people of Kimberly-Clark, the company that makes Kleenex. They somehow managed to convince all of us (by which I mean you guys, not me) that blowing your nose in a disposable piece of paper rather than a handkerchief is the proper way to dispose of snot.
Of course this provides a steady source of income for the company and a steady sink of expenses for everybody who haven’t learned the art of the snot rocket or consider snot rockets a breach of etiquette in a corporate environment, well, I guess that goes for all of us. Therefore I use a handkerchief. A handkerchief is, in case you don’t know it, a piece of cloth that is approximately 10 by 10 inches. For further details ask any old person over the age of 60.
Handkerchiefs are convenient and fit nicely in a pocket unlike boxes of kleenex which are somewhat uncomfortable and unsightly when stuffed into a front pocket. In addition I can easily blow through a kleenex whereas I have yet to perform the same demonstration of nostril directed lung power on a handkerchief. Another consideration is that the use of kleenex necessitates access to a trash can. Otherwise the snot soaked kleenex has to go into the pocket and fishing them out again in their semi soaked state is not nearly as pleasant as fishing out a used but dry handkerchief.
Getting around to costs. Handkerchiefs lasts a long time. The reason is that they can be reused – what a concept – and washed whereas the same is not the case for kleenex. This fact apparently escapes DW as she still leaves kleenex in her jeans pockets presumably for me to wash from time to time, hmm 🙂
The goods news is that unlike cleats, which make your shoe soles last longer, it is still possible to buy handkerchiefs in stores. I prefer my handkerchiefs to be white/light, solid and non-embroidered. Embroidery irritates the nose and does not absorb well and colors don’t do well when washed on warm or hot.
Originally posted 2007-12-19 02:22:00.
