What brand of toilet paper do you use? Do you invest in Quilted Northern or Charmin? Will any old brand suffice? To be honest, I truly do not care about your brand choices in TP. That’s private information for yourself and for the data mining companies to determine which coupons to place in your mailbox; however, there is perhaps a lesson to be learned here about flourishing at life, beyond the simple pleasure of a clean backside. Now, let’s see if you can follow my Backwards Thinking as I try to explain my reasoning before you express concern over my fixation with Toilet Paper.

After replacing a roll of tissue in the bathroom a few weeks ago, I perceived that something was amiss and laughed heartily at myself with a realization—the current roll no longer contained a scalloped edge. Feeling slightly disappointed to see the straight perforated line return, I just sat and wondered. When did Charmin, without my awareness, change my bathroom experience and how am I now supposed to settle for using a straight edge? Here I sit (literally) pondering toilet paper while others’ typical conversation revolves around discussing different blends of coffee and their texture. I’m glad you like the smoothness of that nutty flavor, but have you noticed Charmin’s Smooth Tear? What a life changer (Insert sarcasm here)!

So, evidently, I am not the only person with a silly Burning Curiosity about insignificant matters, but since all knowledge is available online, I was able to locate someone else whose Habit of Attentiveness applies to their paper products. I’ll allow you to delve into Dan Kois’ humorous and educational take on the toilet paper issue with a link below, but it’s the aspect that it took Procter & Gamble five years of R&D (Research & Design) to address the issue of “the incomplete tear” that led the company to patent their new wavy-edge TP.

Five years to transform a common complaint into a solution; however, P&G utilized Backwards Thinking from an incomplete tear (a result) to arrive at a solution to satisfy their customer’s needs. Manufacturers like P&G may have five years and numerous scientists and labs at their disposal, but I’m at a disadvantage. Even after three decades in Christian higher education, I’m mystified for how to guide students to cultivate habits that might lead them to a flourishing life. I sometimes only have a semester, which is not nearly enough time, to research and understand the needs of a student—What are their interests? What vocation might be a good fit? What life experiences might they encounter that will influence where they live and work? How can I, in my God-Given Space, set them up for success? Is this an area where AI (Artificial Intelligence) can help to reduce the time it takes to advise students well? Perhaps something to explore later, but for now, how does a professor conduct R&D to serve their students with Unreasonable Hospitality?

Conducting R&D that benefits a student seems a little daunting, but a quote from the movie Where Did You Go Bernadette? comes to mind which makes me determined to at least try. In a conversation between mother and daughter, Elijay says, “There is just no way one person can know everything about another person.” Bernadette replies: “Of course it’s complicated. Just because it’s complicated. Just because you can’t know everything about another person, doesn’t mean you can’t try. Doesn’t mean I can’t try.” To me, this quote captures what we all desire, what we all need—a place to belong, to know that someone cares, to experience relationships that encourage and move us forward in life, and to have someone in our life that conducts a little R&D with the intent of trying to know everything about us. Not in a creepy, stalking kind of way, but in a way that eliminates the need to ask a question such as “How do you take your coffee?” They just know.

So, the next time you happen to be on the receiving end of my Burning Curiosity, please know I’m only conducting a little R&D. It may take five years for that information to be useful or result in action, but like P&G, I’ll do everything I can to put that intelligence to good use, even if it means encouraging you to pursue a career as a toilet paper scientist.

References:

Kois, D. (2023, October 8). How I got to the bottom of a vexing toilet paper mystery. The Slate Group. Retrieved from https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/toilet-paper-no-tear-charmin-wavy-edges-ultra-soft.html

Linklater, R. (Director). (2019). Where Did You Go Bernadette? [Film]. Annapurna Pictures.

Procter & Gamble. (2023, October 27). For the first time in 100 years, Charmin is reinventing the square for a smoother tear. Retrieved from https://us.pg.com/blogs/charmin-reinvents-toilet-paper-smooth-tear/