a counter-cultural rant, with my apologies

 

I learned something new this week. I'm pretty sure it isn't true, but there it was. False marketing at its finest. I did not know that my whole body smells bad. I never noticed it. Now I'm told that I need a "whole body deodorant"...something new on the market. I'm sorry, but this strikes me as laughable.

~brought to you by Walmart~

I rank it right up there with "laundry sanitizer" when, all these years, I was satisfied that detergent and hot water did the job just fine. Even cold water. I wasn't really worried about pathogens when I folded my laundry or got dressed in the morning. I'm still not convinced I need to worry about them.

It's hard to know what to believe anymore. If the marketers can convince people they stink when, obviously, they don't...and that their clean, fresh laundry is crawling with dangerous microorganisms, what will they come up with next? 

Anything that will sell.

Don't fall for it. Even the Buddha knew better, back in the 5th century BCE:

"Believe nothing,

no matter where you read it or who has said it,

not even if I have said it,

unless it agrees with your own reason,

your own common sense."

~Buddha~

This is especially important today when people are desperate to break into the marketplace. But it affects us in other ways, as well. It raises questions about honesty, integrity, and ethics. About greed, arrogance, and fairness. It smacks of exaggeration, distortion, and fear. Falsification spills over into every aspect of our lives. Business and commerce. Politics and law. And now, personal hygiene and how we do our laundry.

This is just a cautionary note. A reminder not to jump on the bandwagon because of something you have read, or you wish were true, or because of something that scares you. No matter who says it or where you read it. No matter how many others believe it. No matter how loudly or insistently they proclaim it. Think for yourself...

"The important thing is not to stop questioning."

~Albert Einstein~

...and when you think you finally have the answer, go back and question yourself again.

jan