The Last Square....

We're used to seeing sizes shrink so the producer can avoid a price increase. A pound of coffee becomes 13 ounces, a box contains a few ounces less cereal than before, and a half-gallon of ice cream is now only 1 1/2 quarts.

The price stays the same, but we're getting less for our money. Producers figure we don't mind paying more per pound (or ounce or whatever) as long as we don't have to pay more at the cash register. Makes sense. Or maybe they think we won't notice.

As a man of a certain age I've adjusted to countless of these petty little changes with little more than a grunt and a shake of the head. Yeah, shrinking packages are annoying. They don't, however, change the quality or the experience. Coffee, ice cream, and cereal taste exactly the same as before.

But now they have gone too far. Have you bought toilet paper lately? The makers of the brand we have loyally purchased for ages trimmed half an inch from the width of every roll. I know a half inch doesn't sound like much. And with most things it's not. But with this particular product, fractions of an inch matter.

This little cost-saving measure has significantly changed my experience with this product. I've lost confidence. Lack of confidence means we're spinning through twice as many rolls as before. Am I alone???

Give me the option to pay more for width--a feature I have perhaps taken for granted my entire life. Had I known this change was coming, I would have filled our entire garage with the old wide rolls. I would have, or my name isn't...

The Crotchety Old Man