Pros and cons of things you normally wouldn't weigh the pros and cons of

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This truly is mundane and pointless, but I just found a pack of gum on my floor and decided to eat a piece.

This was one of those packs with little “bubbles” and the aluminum foil backing, like the one found here (I hope it lets me hotlink to it).

This got me thinking about the other, “traditional” packs of gum, where individual pieces are wrapped in a small piece of paper, and these are all placed in a thin, cardboard container - like Orbit.

I decided to weigh the pros and cons of each type of packaging.

First, the aluminum-foil-bubble packaging.

Pros: There is no small wrapper that needs disposal after removing a piece of gum. You are able to poke a hole through the back of the aluminum foil, and pop out the gum.

Cons: You have to carry around the entire pack of gum. Some brands allow you to remove maybe a third of the rectangle (perhaps three or six pieces), but it can still be a nuisance.

Now, for the “traditional” type of packaging:

Pros: Small, portable pieces of gum still in the wrapper. Perfect for small pockets, wallets, and can be transported via carrier pigeon.

Cons: The paper waste produced after unwrapping each piece of gum. Most people just throw these in the streets or cram them in their pockets, thus creating a mess in our communities and pockets, respectively.

What other items can you think of that, upon further review, have pretty mundane and pointless pros and cons? Door knobs? Vacuum cleaners? A cube of sugar? The unbalanced budget? I’m sure you’ll come up with something.

2

Hitch Hiking

Pro’s–Sex with a nubile young woman.
Con’s–Loss of your wife of many years

Pro’s–Having sex with a new beautiful woman.
Con’s-Getting killed by terrorists

Pro’s–Your wife will never reject you
Con’s–Your wife rejects you.

Pro’s–Living your life in the badlands of the U.S.A
Con’s-Puking on a truck driver’s boots.

SSG Schwartz

3

Well, it was clearly written on gum wrappers of my youth that the wrappers were to be used for disposal of used gum. Wrap them up in the foil and paper instead of throwing the ABC gum onto the sidewalk. Thus, the wrappers had an important use that can’t be duplicated by the bubble packs.

4

They’re called blister packs.

5

But the bubbles are empty now.

6

I seem to remember this as well, now that you mention it. But how many of us actually do this? I can count the times I’ve done this with the fingers on one hand. Even then, with no trash can around, what do we do with the gum wrapped up in the paper?

Bingo! I believe they are called blisters packs because the small pockets resemble blisters. However, this leaves an unpleasant image in my head, as the blisters I’ve encountered are spewing with pus.

As for another mundane item to weigh the pros and cons of, I present to you the toothbrush.

Pros: Scrubs teeth of buildup.

Cons: To work effectively, requires toothpaste as a compliment. Repetitive brushing motion may tire the arm. Still requires flossing for total tooth maintenance.