Evolution of a Box

          First there was a box.  It was big and unwieldy and each month caused me to break fingernails as I struggled the thing off the shelf and into my grocery cart.   My immediate and usual thought consisted of unkind words mentally thrown at whoever designed such a large, heavy, and awkward carton for laundry detergent.

          Imagine my delight when some months later the detergent company, with loud fanfare unveiled their brand new container…a box one third the size of the original.  The ads promoting this little gem spouted on about the ease of getting it off the shelf, the miniscule space it would take up in the laundry room and the fact that shoppers no longer needed the strength of ten men to carry this wonder to their cars.  I was a happy camper.

          But, the manufacturers apparently not simply satisfied with the new size of their product, felt moved to embellish its contents as well.  So, not too many months later, the smaller box proclaimed: ‘Now with added Zingy Enzymes.’

          It seems that thinking a cupful of plain old soap powder would produce clean clothes from my washing machine was a completely incorrect concept on my part.  Without me being aware, my clothes had been dingy for years.  But, with the added zingy things working their magic, the clothes would finally exit my machine whiter and brighter than all the stars in the heavens.  Well!  I was certainly impressed.

          On a later shopping expedition and sporting my fabulously brighter, whiter, shorts and t-shirt, I noted the manufacturers of my favorite detergent had not rested on their laurels.  They’d been busily working to make my life even happier.  Their latest packaging informed me that the box now contained twenty percent more zingy enzymes than previously.  Wow!

          I noticed too, the price was creeping up a few pennies with each new unveiling.  But still, to be able to dazzle all my friends and neighbors with my sparkling-like-new clothes was certainly worth it, wasn’t it?

          Not much later, the detergent bigwigs, finally happy with the contents of their container, returned their attention to the box itself.  Obviously all those terrific enzymes rattling around inside the box needed a little more space.  So out it came…the ‘New Improved Box.’  It was a different color and slightly larger than the previous model but with the ‘new improved’ words emblazoned on its front and back, it was like a wondrous new entity.

          Nearly two years to the day later, I broke two fingernails and almost gave myself a hernia juggling a huge box of laundry detergent off the grocery store shelf.  My favorite manufacturer had once again opted to produce a new version of the box by increasing the size by at least two thirds.  This new container was going to have me dancing in the aisles and save me heaps of loot by lasting so much longer than the smaller box.  It was a wonderful product for the budget conscious among us.

          Well, what can you say to that?

          ‘Ummmm…it’s the same size it was a couple of years ago?’

          Nah.  That would surely prompt the marketing guys into a tizzy and they’d have to start all over again with a brand new smaller box.