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The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

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Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#91

Post by derefr »

blakeyrat wrote: post #52
frik wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder why hotels have no vending machine to buy a toothpaste, etc in the middle of the night when no shop is opened or in general when no shop is in walking distance.

Just talk to the guy at the front desk. Why do you need a robot when there's a guy staffing it 24/7 who'll happily give you a free tube of toothpaste if you simply ask him? This thread is like bizarro universe for me. Am I seriously the only one who's tried asking the desk for toothpaste?

A kind of common anxiety, involving not wanting people to "serve" you, even for money, when you could instead get the same thing done yourself. It's the same reason middle-class Americans—even when in possession of plenty of money and no time—tend to clean their houses or buy gadgets like Roombas, instead of retaining a part-time cleaner.

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#92

Post by EliRivers »

pttrsmrt wrote: post #3

Oh no, this like a "cannot unsee"-picture. I will never be able to stay at a hotel again without being troubled by the lack of toothpaste. It begs the question: What else in the world do we not see until we see it?

Counting ball tosses, only by the people wearing white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#93

Post by ghaff »

igf wrote: post #89
nullc wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bringing my own toothpaste is easy You don't fly anywhere where TSA 'protects' the skies then?

I thought toothpaste was fine because it's a paste, not a liquid, gel or aerosol. Unless of course you buy the "gel" type.

"You are allowed to bring a quart-sized bag of liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes in your carry-on bag and through the checkpoint. "

YMMV of course as to how strenuously this is enforced in practice. My observation is that in Europe (at least in the UK) the separate quart baggie taken out of luggage is actually more routinely and more strictly enforced than in the US. And I somewhat doubt that a squeezed down tube of toothpaste in that baggie is typically going to cause an issue. (But in the US, I use travel-sized toothpaste and have TSA Pre so I don't have a lot of recent data.)

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#94

Post by silencio »

richardfontana wrote: post #25
igf wrote: post #4

Bringing my own shampoo is a hassle, because I buy shampoo in normal-sized many-use bottles that are quite large and might leak. Bringing my own soap is even worse, because nobody wants to carry around a slimy wet cake of soap. Bringing my own toothpaste is easy, because it's small, and I get the brand whose taste I'm accustomed to. Also, I've got to bring my tooth brush with me anyway, so the toothpaste as well isn'…

Since switching from a cartridge razor to a safety razor a few years ago, I've also switched from using shaving cream to using shaving soap (the use of which seems to go hand in hand with use of safety razors, if only for retro-cultural reasons). While I do not travel with the safety razor because TSA, I do bring the shaving soap (and a boar's hair shaving brush) along with a cartridge razor, in part because it's mor…

I mentioned this in another thread, but another option is using (hair) conditioner. I can't personally speak to how well it works on faces seeing as how I have no facial hair, but it's my go-to at home for shaving my legs and things.

I've even tried body lotion in a pinch, at a hotel that didn't have conditioner unless you asked for it... not the worst. But way better than shaving cream from hotels still, especially when they give you those practically empty plastic packets.

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#95

Post by _JamesA_ »

jdminhbg wrote: post #66
_JamesA_ wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of 99 Percent Invisible - that podcast makes the entertainment system in my car reboot when played. It ends up in a cycle of play a few seconds, reboot, play, etc, until I change to another podcast. No other podcast or any other source causes this issue.

I recently read an article that said that most podcasts don't use VBR encoding for MP3s because there are some players that don't handle it correctly; maybe 99% Invisible does and your car system is crashing because of it?

Thanks. I did a quick search and found the/an article[1] that says iOS and macOS do not accurately seek within a VBR MP3 but implies that they play without issue.

I'll have to investigate this further (or buy a new car) when I have the time.

[1]: https://marco.org/2016/08/15/vbr-mp3-plea

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#96

Post by wila »

pttrsmrt wrote: post #3

Oh no, this like a "cannot unsee"-picture. I will never be able to stay at a hotel again without being troubled by the lack of toothpaste. It begs the question: What else in the world do we not see until we see it?

To stay on the hotel topic, this one [0] scores pretty high on not unseeing it. If you see the cleaning lady and there's no glasses on her cart then chances are high that she has to clean them herself while cleaning your room. Which is pretty much always the case and they do have to clean your toilet too.

They normally have to do many rooms, so they don't always have the time to do it properly. When at a hotel, drinking glasses / cups / mugs etc.. I always clean myself before using.

[0] https://consumerist.com/2007/11/07/secret-camera-investigati...

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#97

Post by jameshart »

careersuicide wrote: post #12
totalcrepe wrote: post #6

Toothpaste is heavily branded in a health related fashion that makes it hard for hotels to get away with fake botique and paying for a real brand risks offending users of a "higher" or competing brand. Then there are also the foreign patrons who will find local brands funny at best. This is notable in that the one hotel that carried toothpaste felt they had to say which brand. (They were right, I once stayed at a hot…

> risks offending users of a "higher" or competing brand I strongly suspect that I am not alone in the stubbornness of my toothpaste preference. I will grudgingly use a different shampoo if I have to as most shampoos don't have too strong of a smell. In any given day I use probably 3 to 6 different soaps, with only the one in my house being my preference (mmmmmmmm coconut ginger) so using some random soap at a hotel…

I struggle to maintain loyalty to a specific toothpaste variety because of the overwhelming variety of types of Colgates and Crests stocked everywhere in the US. Even when I think I have discovered a variety that tastiest pleasant and seems to be effective, the next time I find myself in front of the shelf I struggle to recall the details: was it cool mint with gum protection? Or fresh mint with whitening? The packages seem to change subtly every few months and it's not clear that every store stocks the full range so I frankly have no idea whether I am sticking with the same toothpaste over an extended period.

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#98

Post by morgante »

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #23

A thousand times amen to this. At home I share a tube of toothpaste with my wife: if we go on holiday together, we bring the tube with us. If I'm travelling solo, for business or whatever, then the home toothpaste stays at home, so I need to remember to buy a new tube to take with me. It's the only thing I need to expressly purchase other than the hotel room booking. This can't be that unusual a scenario... can it?

> If I'm travelling solo, for business or whatever, then the home toothpaste stays at home, so I need to remember to buy a new tube to take with me.

Keep in mind that you always have the option of getting them to send up toothpaste.

That's what I always do. I definitely can't be bothered to pack toothpaste and have yet to encounter a hotel where they didn't have some available.

At the end of the day, I think that's the strongest reason it's not in rooms: anyone who actually wants it can simply call.

Re: The Mystery of the Missing Hotel Toothpaste (2013)

#100

Post by muppetman »

copperx wrote: post #53
careersuicide wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> risks offending users of a "higher" or competing brand I strongly suspect that I am not alone in the stubbornness of my toothpaste preference. I will grudgingly use a different shampoo if I have to as most shampoos don't have too strong of a smell. In any given day I use probably 3 to 6 different soaps, with only the one in my house being my preference (mmmmmmmm coconut ginger) so using some random soap at a hotel…

I feel like an alien after reading your comment. I will gladly use any soap, shampoo, or toothpaste as long as it's free. I have never met someone as picky as you say you are with your toothpaste. I don't think you're the norm in any way.

Me either. It's a paste that has to gently scrap my teeth. I can't imagine why it needs to be more personal than the soap I wash my bottom with or the shampoo I wash my thinning hairline with.
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