What Single People Should Stock
In general, the minimal essentials.
Why minimize
- Time efficiency - reduce maintenance. As a single person, you don't have time for a lot of maintenance. The more stuff you have, the more maintenance (dusting, cleaning, repairs, service, sorting, storing) that stuff requires.
- Cognitive efficiency - reduce the need to even think about the things in your field of view. The fewer things in your field of view, the fewer things to remind you about tangential things, things other than what you want to be thinking about or doing.
- Perception of control - the fewer things you have and or need, the more in control you feel and seem.
- Portability - fewer things makes it easier to move, and able to live in a wider variety of spaces.
- Expandability and potential - seemingly extra space where you live provides opportunities for expansion and helps provide a reminder of potential rather than a sense of completeness.
Requirements for stocking things
Stock things that are or do:
- Essential for or help/enhance your personal health and cleanliness
- Provide inspiration or otherwise enhance productivity
- Educate you or provide a reference for work you have done or may do in the past/next 5 years
- Emergency items, e.g. medical supplies, items for natural disaster survival
- Maybe a few items of convenience for a specific loved one
Updated 2011-236. -Tantek
Archive from 2008
This is an archive of collective wisdom originally accrued as a tweetburst on the evening of 2008-09-18 captured here for your consideration. It pertains only to a few things and doesn't reflect any kind of prioritization - but rather, just the few things that data was collected for at the time.
IN PROGRESS AND INCOMPLETE - in the middle of collecting items, arguments, and citations, just capturing a very intermediate state for now.
Starting with an IRL discussion on 2008-09-18 among several experts (women) who expressed a consensus opinion that the prepared single guy keeps a supply of tampax pearl variety pack in the bathroom which I tweeted, debate ensued online, naturally expanding the scope to what a single guy should stock for visiting women friends in general, and then the corresponding question was asked as well, what should single girls stock for visiting guy friends.
As with any wiki page, this curation is in progress and likely to be updated. Have your own opinion as a guy or girl as to what you would like to see stocked? Feel free to tweet your opinion or ask me nicely for the pw to edit.
What single guys should stock
tampons
- tampons (as twittered), recommended by 4 in-person (women) experts. confirming this opinion:
- @Gasolinehabit: "That actually comes in handy. I've had a few guy friends who have done that. And it's sure saved my life a couple times :D"
- @spunkygidget: "...stock tampons and condoms!"
- 2008-09-19 another in-person expert confirmed this, and gave the following reasoning: it's very considerate, especially making it possible to not have to ask someone else for a spare one.
- ... more to be collected
warnings
A few women offered warnings that stocking tampons may lead to misinterpretation.
- @helloerica: "A single guy having tampons at his house will make a girl lead on that he might just have someone else (say a GF?)."
objections
A few women disagreed, with the following reasoning:
- "ewww..." @arielwaldman
- "creepy"
- "girls will ALWAYS have them when they need them" (@arielwaldman)
- this was refuted by other girls. ... citations to be collected.
A few men objected with some seriously flawed reasoning, mostly from a clear sense of fear and discomfort (perhaps a bit of subconscious sexism, fear of the unfamiliar etc.).
- ... citations to be collected.
makeup remover
hair dryer
chocolate
midol
What single girls should stock
- ... items and citations to be collected
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