Gripe of the Day (GOTD)

You know what really bugs me? Paper plates.

No, I am not going to get into the whole to be green or not to be green quandary (that's a different post for a different day); what annoys me about paper plates is the quantities in which they are packaged.

There are two kinds of paper plates. The pretty ones and the ugly ones. The ugly ones come in packs of 12 to 100. They are usually flimsy and so you need 100 of them because doubling-up isn't even enough to hold a plate of popcorn. You need to at least elevenses-up to make them stand up to your brunch buffet. Sure, you can get the Solo brand of plastic plates that are more sturdy, but I am not talking about plastic plates I am talking about paper ones.

Then, there are the pretty plates in pretty patterns. They are the type of paper plates you admire in the store but you never ever buy these plates because they only come in packs of 8. Maybe a pack of 12 if you are lucky. Oh, and they cost twice as much as the ugly flimsy ones in their pack of 60. And they aren't even very sturdy, so you'd probably still need to double-up. That leaves you with 4 plates that are usable.

What really bothers me about these pretty plates is I can't even imagine who'd want to buy them. What kind of event are you throwing where these plates even make sense? A salad party for 8 and you don't feel like doing dishes? I throw the kind of party where you invite a lot of people and you cannot use your regular plates because you don't have enough regular plates. And what you really want are some plates that are festive, but you can't justify spending the $6.95 per pack of 8 "designer" plates. What designer even designed these plates anyway? I don't see the Gucci logo on there. Nor do I see Prada.

Thus, you are stuck taking the white dumb looking plates and decorating them with stickers or turkey hands or nothing at all because it probably isn't safe to draw things on the plate off which you will eat, all the while thinking about the pretty patterned plates sitting on their shelf in the store of your choice as they smugly mock you.