Impulse Buys

It’s happened to all of us. After the rigors of shopping are finally nearing an end and we stand in the boring checkout line, we see rows and rows of bright, colorful, happy, shiny packages of candy, chocolate, and gum before us, and many times it takes a lot of self-restraint to not reach out and grab one.

BUT sometimes self-restraint is just overrated and we throw some candy in the cart. Mwah-ha-ha! We've been caught in the clever, evil snare! Whoever decided to place candy by the register knew we’d be weak from the pains of shopping and that we’d struggle not to impulsively buy some high sugared treat for ourselves. Those little snakes!

Today I saw something displayed next to the candy at the register that I had not seen before. Condoms! Because, I’m sure, nothing is more of a turn-on than wandering a grocery store, throwing bread, cheese, and milk in our carts, and as were waiting in line to pay for our groceries, instead of reaching for a Snickers bar to satisfy our bored hunger, we enthusiastically grab for a bright, shiny package of condoms. Oh boy!  At least they threw in some token bandaids and hand sanitizer to make it seem like they were just making a convenient, mini, personal care center -- if they added Q-Tips and tampons to the mix, then I'd believe it.

Six varieties of condoms are to the left of the gum