I’m not sure what this is, good, bad, a sign of impending doom, or the dawn of a new era. I’m pretty certain I don’t need it and wouldn’t miss it if it never came to market, but Pandora is out of the box now:  http://www.tidycats.com/products/direct/?

The last gasp of the German Army as far as offensive operations go was a breakout called the Battle of the Bulge. It ultimately failed in achieving its main goal, scared the hell out of the Allies and convinced German Intelligence that they would lose the war. This conclusion is stated anecdotally in one of the Epic WW II movies of the sixties.

In the scene two German officers are eating cookies from a package. One comments that the cookies are pretty good and not stale.  The other agrees and points out that the cookies were mailed from the United States to a GI. The German thinks about this a moment and says, “If the Americans have the logistical capacity to get cookies to an average GI, all the way from America, before they get stale, then the war for us is lost.” The battle was lost because German logistics could not support front line units over considerably shorter lines.

Is this an example of the over capacity of American logistics and supply? Is it an indication of America’s unwillingness, to get its hands dirty? Or are we squandering our capacity for creative thought and the ability to employ creative and innovative solutions to any problem we come across, by building the better litter box, rather than the better mousetrap.

The third alternative is reject the notion that a disposable litter box delivered by mail but disposed of by more traditional means is not a indication of too much excess or too much flippancy. It is, as the three bears tale alludes, just right. It is uniquely American to address the needs of the individual. You want cookies? Get mama off her ass to bake the cookies, make enough for everybody. We’ll see that they get delivered.

Our Allies the British, are a more stoic lot. Boys at least we have tea, the milk deliveries have been disrupted. Stiff upper lip.

The Germans took yet another stance. The reason we fight is because the Allies have all the cookies and they won’t share. Beat the Allies and you can have their milk and cookies. Meanwhile look at this neat rocket and airplane with a new engine design and every part has a serial number.

This is one of those stories that as I wrote it, I made a 180 turn. Disposable litter boxes, delivered by mail, that’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Not every creative thing that comes to mind has to be a cure for cancer. George Washington Carver developed hundreds of uses for the peanut and sweet potato. He didn’t invent peanut butter, but I bet he made it better. Sometimes the inventor is just along for the ride.

Velcro, freeze dried foods, and space blankets were all products to support the space program. They were all later adapted for use in the civilian world. Pet rocks were of absolutely no use to consumers, but to the marketers and distributors represented a gold mine. The rocks also demonstrated that Americans could laugh at themselves.

You can laugh and make fun of the developers of disposable litter boxes by mail, but before you do take this into consideration. Add two lines of instructions and a prepaid mail form and you could be the recipient of millions of pounds of cat turds.