Saponification

All I needed was a simple bar of soap.

Thinking that the drugstore might be quicker than the local grocery for a single item, I ducked into the corner Walgreen's. In the skin care section there was a dazzling array of products - face wash, body wash, face and body wash, moisturizer, toner, astringent, pore decreasing cream, blackhead and acne remedies - but no soap. Soap was consigned to the grocery area, just below the paper goods, and as I reached for the first bar of Dove I saw, I stopped in utter amazement. I had stumbled into soap heaven.

There was soap for dry skin, oily skin, sensitive skin. There was moisturizing soap, soap on a rope, exfoliating soap, pink soap, white soap, deordorant soap, cool mint soap, herbal soap, garden fresh soap, fragrance free soap and scented soap, too numerous to mention. I looked for so long that the very word soap stopped making sense and began to look like a misspelling. Shaking myself out of this soap shock, I reached for the closest bar of Dove (one quarter cleansing cream) and fled to the cash register.

Let's be clear. We're talking about soap, not trade agreements or rocket propulsion. There shouldn't be anything complicated about soap, just add water and rinse and you're done. Do soap manufacturers think that consumers are really that stupid? Or have we become so concerned with outer appearances that we think we need this kind of soap variety? For a second I considered buying one of each kind and comparing ingredients just to discover what subtle differences there might be but I dismissed this idea as suspiciously cynical. This was, after all, just soap and it didn't rate that much of an investment of my time or cash.

Still, this extravagant selection of soap got me to thinking about how simple - if not limited - most of my choices really are. Lie or tell the truth, wear blue or gray, sandals or closed toes, pepperoni or plain, cash or charge, be on time or be

late - watch Special Victims or Criminal Intent, regular or high test, crispy or original. Even the serious choices are easy
when you get right down to it. Fight or give up, accept or deny, move on or be stuck. None of these decisions involve the complexity of soap, of course, but then what does.

Buyer beware, there is no longer any such thing as a simple bar of soap.