Nicole feels

The other night as I was folding a mound of clothes so high it rivaled the Great Wall of China, a profound thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

(Yes, folks, if I get a profound thought, it is going to hit like a ton of bricks or else I wouldn't recognize it.)

I have been told that in China, married couples are limited to having one child. This is apparantly to keep the population under control, as this eastern country has more people than any other country in the world (and if you know anything about ancient oriental sex techniques, these folks must enjoy the practice of procreation, which inevitably will result in offspring if left unchecked.)

At first thought this family-size-limiting seems unfair and irrational, and well, just plain mean. But as I folded shirts and sorted sock upon sock, I realized that the real reason the Chinese government askes that spouses keep their family size to three is thus:

LAUNDRY.

Yup, laundry.

Case in point. There are five family members in our household. What this means in laundry terms, especially during the colder season, is that in order to stay on top of the laundry thing and still be able to find my laundry room, I must wash at least one load of clothes per day. And if one adds linens and towels, there are some days when two is a must.

Now, I am no math wiz but if I only had three family members under this roof, that would equal a lot less laundry, yes?

OK, now before you go getting the wrong idea, I don't have plans to sell any family members so that I have less laundry to do. But all these years I have thought that Communist Chinese leaders were, in the words of dear Marn concerning Mr. Gates, "pus brained spawn of Satan". Now I see that perhaps on one point, they mean well. Let's face it, I am sure there are women out there who have gone loopy matching socks (unless of course you are like my dear sister and just go out and buy new ones). Perhaps this is all just meant to preserve the mental health of the women of their country.

Yeah, yeah, whatever (Nicole winks). But it is a thought...