As seen on TV....my thoughts.

I am not one for buying those “as seen on TV” products and the infomercials crack me up most of the time. I recently saw one for Eggies System for hardboiled eggs. Pretty neat contraption but I rarely have issues with peeling hardboiled eggs and when I do; I really don’t care because I boil an extra few anyway. But it got me to thinking how many useless products are out there that we foam at the mouth to have and then we use a few times and then it collects dust at the bottom of a closet awaiting the next yard sale to be had. I have guilty of falling for the pitches and oohhhs and awwws of the wonders of the item. So has my husband. And my girls. Lessons learned, sometimes.

Years ago, I bought the thigh master….come on you know you had one too. I used it for a bit, hubby did too and then it got put away in the closet. He bought an ab machine thingy…I made him return it, it wasn’t worth it. He likes the exercise “as seen on TV” products. I have a deflated Bean in my garage that he blows up from time to time and then lets sit in my living room. Unused. Yes he used it when he first bought moons ago. The Snuggie was his latest….actually I bought it for him; he really wanted it and he does use it. The girls make fun of him constantly….”Dad, it’s a robe backwards” or “Dad, do you know how retarded you look? “ He proudly wears it. I find it comical.

I, on the other hand, go for the kitchen gadgets. I bought this stovetop griddle once and was so excited to use it. One side is a griddle, I could make pancakes for all and sit and eat with them instead of being the last to eat. The other side was a grill top, hot dogs, chicken grilled in the house when it was raining or too cold to go out (upstate NY winters.) Well the downside of this nifty invention was that if your burners (needed two) weren’t the same size, the food took longer to cook anyway. And I can’t use it on the ceramic top I have now. It sits in the cabinet at the moment. I bought this salad spinner, yes they are cool and useful but I found myself still drying my lettuce leaves as I always have, with paper towels. The space age saver storage bags…they are good, I will admit and bought a set…We use them still but that’s only because they are storing blankets in the closet.

There are some great products out there and we as people are eager to buy anything that will make our lives easier and take less time to perform a task. We get sucked in with “lose half your body weight in only 6 weeks” and those photo shopped before and after pictures. I mean does that aha bra really work, or the jeans that make you appear skinny until you boomerang them back at yourself when you take them off. Do these products come with hazard insurance?

I will admit there are some useless gadgets that are actually useful…if that makes sense. I bought Jennifer hangers that were slim – you know the ones, you can store double the clothes in your closet with them. Good for the dorm room closet! Ha, the joke was on me. They are good and do live up to their advertising - however, what they fail to mention is consumer will then go buy more clothes to hang because there is more room to do so. Oh those, inventors are smart for sure…that’s why they are rolling in some dough while I just bake cookies with it.

Since I started to write this endless gibberish, I realize the Eggie system is still on my mind. I may have to see if I could use it. After all, the eggs are cooked with a flat bottom, making them stand flat and you do not have to peel the eggs. It even lets you add seasonings to the little egg holder cooker thingy. You can’t beat the price either…just $10 and you get 12 egg cookers! Is shipping free?! Where’s my credit card?!