In the Odd Land of Toilet Paper Flowers


 

One fascination about travel is that you encounter oddities you've never dreamed of in your regular life. In my hotel room in San Francisco I came across one of these oddities that I've never understood.

Why do housekeepers fold intricate little flowers on the toilet paper rolls of your room when they clean it? It's actually an act that takes time that I feel would be better spent giving a few extra scrubs of cleaning to the bathtub.  

Even worse, when I see a toilet paper flower I don't know what to do.  I mean such a flower does not make the function for which I use toilet paper go more smoothly.  In fact, I don't wish to use an inconveniently bulky flower down there and end up either throwing it away or, if I am somewhat congested, might use it for blowing my nose. And a toilet paper flower is not so beautiful that it brightens my day in any meaningful way.

Does the housekeeper think a toilet paper flower will cause me to respect them so much that I might leave them a gratuity?  I mean I always leave a couple of bucks for the housekeepers when I check out of my room anyway, and I can't imagine a stingy person saying, "Wow, they folded us a toilet paper flower, let's leave them an extra few bucks!"  If a housekeeper wanted to motivate my generosity, they'd leave a couple chocolates on my pillow instead, like they do at some fancy hotels. 

The more that I think about it, toilet paper flowers have nothing to do with housekeepers at all.  I am pretty sure this idea comes down from corporate marketing who demand housekeepers fold these flowers to "enhance the hospitality of our hotel chain brand."  It seems like the kind of idea that's the brainchild of those who don't have to spend their time doing the folding.

Now, if there was a housekeeper who folded me a winged Pegasus or a map of Africa, then I might be impressed.  But, better yet, just leave the toilet paper alone and make sure that it unrolls from above instead of underneath and then I'll be all set.  



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