# That thing YOU think everyone should get. Everyone! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198 "2025-02-11T23:07:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/41 "2025-02-13T01:53:44Z")
Am I really the first to point out that a Thneed is what everyone, everyone needs? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/42 "2025-02-13T04:47:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I just realised I HAVE one of these (actually, I have several - they were supplied as glass weights to use in jars for making fermented pickles, but they are glass domes and they function as lenses). I should just slip one in my pocket when I go shopping. I know my eyes are getting old now, but I swear they are also printing the ingredient panels smaller and in lower contrast than they used to. I find a mobile phone makes a far superior magnifying lens. And flashlight. And it’s already in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/43 "2025-02-13T04:51:27Z")
I have Kudzu, but I cannot knit. Alas. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/44 "2025-02-13T07:39:42Z")
That’s what I have been using up to now, but a simple lens would probably be more convenient for me I think - Both things need to be taken out of the pocket, but the phone then needs to be switched on and unlocked, the camera app opened, zoomed in and (in the case of my somewhat older phone), coaxed into focusing up close. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/45 "2025-02-13T08:27:33Z")
If you don’t already have slow-closing, slam-proof toilet seats, you are missing out on the greatest innovation of the 21st century. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/46 "2025-02-13T08:31:36Z")
We have that in one of our bathrooms, but it’s starting to fail. The lid still closes gently, but the seat slams if let go. I have to figure out what I need to tighten; surprisingly it’s not immediately obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/47 "2025-02-13T08:34:50Z")
I think magic is involved. Maybe there’s an incantation that will help. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/48 "2025-02-13T09:25:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Lol! I keep one in the bedroom and one discreetly hidden in the living room, and if I could keep one at work, I would! That’s what rulers are for. They don’t work quite as well, but I always have one handy (used to be a draftsman) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/49 "2025-02-13T09:40:36Z")
Harbor Frieght sells this extendable thing with a bear looking claw. It also has a magnet. I assume it is for fishing small parts out of somewhere. It makes for a great back scratcher and is cute to boot. And you can hang it on the fridge, if you’re so a mind to. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/50 "2025-02-13T13:20:34Z")
I was in complete agreement with the slow-closing toilet seat proposal - until we got our HEATED, bidet, exhaust fan equiped toilet seat. Totally worth it. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/51 "2025-02-13T13:24:18Z")
A sharp kitchen knife (or 3) A sharp folding knife (for camping) Edit. A jack. A tow rope. A wheel spanner. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/52 "2025-02-13T15:17:32Z")
> [@sunacres](#): > > until we got our HEATED, bidet, exhaust fan equiped toilet seat. Totally worth it. That was going to be my answer to the OP. The first one was an indulgent ($1000) joke present for my wife’s birthday ten years ago. Now all three toilets in the house have one. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Sponge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dark_sponge/32/121_2.png) [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/53 "2025-02-13T16:02:53Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > An Air Fryer. > I was a long, long holdout. Couldn’t see the need for it - The microwave or the oven worked fine. > Then I found out that if you used an air fryer, you could get CRISPY hash browns…I now use it multiple times each week. And LOVE the results. I love my air fryer and use it all the time. Part of the reason I bought it was to cook hashbrowns. But despite repeated attempts I’ve never been able to get them to come out right. Can you share your secret to crispy hashbrowns cooked in an air fryer? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/54 "2025-02-13T17:32:08Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I swear they are also printing the ingredient panels smaller and in lower contrast than they used to. Yeah. They print the handful of required nutrients in big print, and the actual ingredients in tiny print. I think they might be required to do the former, and nothing’s preventing them from doing the latter as long as the ingredients are on there somewhere. (It’s not entirely the size of the label, as there nearly always seems to be plenty of room on the label for large colorful pictures and/or logos – sometimes featuring something that’s actually the ninth ingredient of thirteen if you do read the fine print.) However I’m already schlepping so much stuff around in my pockets that it’s easier to take my glasses off and hold the container up to my face than it would be to carry around and then dig out a magnifying glass, of whatever type, and hold that up to the container. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/55 "2025-02-13T17:36:53Z")
And they print the calorie count in a massive font like that is any indicator of how nutritious an item is. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/56 "2025-02-13T17:40:49Z")
Especially when they’ve already jiggered the serving size. But yes – hey, folks, calories are actually a nutrient. You need some. ETA: And some relatively high-calorie foods are nutrient dense otherwise; while others are not. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/57 "2025-02-13T18:36:06Z")
> [@motu](#): > > A bamboo backscratcher. Well it doesn’t have to be bamboo but everyone deserves a backscratcher. In addition to its intended use, I find that my bamboo backscratcher is great for fetching things that fall under my desk so I don’t have to get down on the floor (which with my knees requires a crane hoist to get up), as well as for pulling things forward that have slid to the back of high shelves. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/58 "2025-02-13T22:52:04Z")
As far as back scratchers go, this is my favorite (mine is Oregon myrtle). The curve it has is just lovely. [![](https://i.etsystatic.com/12526029/r/il/00a08c/2726720250/il_fullxfull.2726720250_tqpr.jpg) ](https://i.etsystatic.com/12526029/r/il/00a08c/2726720250/il_fullxfull.2726720250_tqpr.jpg) But, really, everyone needs to have a personal stuff aide, to help them get rid of all the excess stuff they keep accumulating. People in general are owned by way too much stuff. _(but, what really surprised me is that no one has suggested_ “laid” _)_ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/59 "2025-02-13T23:08:06Z")
I expected that in the first response. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198/60 "2025-02-13T23:17:33Z")
This was Bob Dylan’s thought on the subject: > **[Bob Dylan - Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (Official Audio)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm-po_FUmvM%2F)** > > “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" by Bob DylanListen to Bob Dylan: https://bobdylan.lnk.to/listenYDSubscribe to the Bob Dylan YouTube channel: https://bobdylan.lnk.... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-thing-you-think-everyone-should-get-everyone/1014198.md?page=4)