Ok, it is officially time for me to rant. Sometimes on this blog I have pointed out useless products... take for example my blog on <a href="http://americanlife80.blogspot.com/2007/11/another-senseless-product-odor-alert.html">Odor Alert Cat Litter</a>. I have something similar to rant about today: automatic faucets and paper towel dispensers. Does this not seem a little over the top?

Half the time you walk over to a sink and start doing the karate chop dance to try and get the damn thing working right, or it suddenly stops sensing your hand in the middle of scrubbing. The other half of the time you are caught seriously examining the faucet for the stupid hidden sensor, when there is not one at all.

The other day I was in a movie theater and was frantically waving my hand in front of a paper towel dispenser, only to find out that it had an old fashioned crank on the side. The reason I was confused was because the faucet WAS motion sensor activated...talk about confusing, and way too much work.

I just want to wash my hands in peace and be able to confidently walk over to the paper towel dispenser and get out the right amount...this should not be that difficult. So instead of inventing new ways for me to make a fool of myself in a public bathroom by doing the karate chop paper towel dance, someone should be focusing R & D budgets on something important.