My Idea

I’ve always fancied myself somewhat of an inventor. I haven’t actually invented anything you might find on the street or in the stores but a lot of those things were, in fact, my idea.

You probably think some guy named McDonald invented the fast food burger franchise: not true. He wasn’t named McDonald; and anyway, I had the idea first. Near the town where I grew up there was a burger joint named “The Lure.” They offered hamburgers (I use the term loosely) for 15 cents, skinny French fries for 10 cents, and a wonderful concoction of artificial lemon flavored drink and artificial orange flavored drink they called The Blend, for a nickel. I wish I had a nickel for every time, and there were many, that I said, “They should build a bunch of these all over the country.” I learned later that there were actually several “The Lures” in our tri-state region, but they were not “each one independently owned and operated,” so I stand by my claim. Anyway, if Columbus can take credit for discovering America, I can take credit for burger franchises.

Intermittent windshield wipers were my idea. The wipers on my brothers first car, a vintage (meaning really old) VW beetle would only run for one cycle when first turned on. Consequently, they needed to be turned off and on for each wipe. I wish I had another nickel for every time that I said, “They should make them work this way automatically.” I know what you’re thinking, but this was way before Greg Kinear came along with his “Flash of Genius.” Just because I couldn’t afford to sue Ford and those other guys, doesn’t make my flash of genius unworthy of credit. Speaking of credit, what’s up with credit scores? But that’s another story.

Speaking of cars, seatbelts were my idea, actually one of my very first ideas. I got the idea after ending up on the floorboards of our Nash Rambler for the 15th or 16th time when my mother, a lovely lady but a lousy driver, would “stop short.” She would always stick out her arm to keep me seated, but too little and/or too late, it seldom worked. Much too young to apply for a patent, and lacking development funds for a prototype, I developed a solution I liked to refer to as the “wedge yourself in with feet against the dashboard child safety protocol.” Okay, I had no idea what a patent, or prototype, or protocol was, but if I had, I might have called it that.

I’ve had other ideas for which I deserved, but didn’t receive, the credit. You probably own at least, one “Roll Ease” or similar suitcase, with two wheels and a pull out handle, “for easy rolling around the airport.” That wasn’t my idea, but the “Easy Roll” toolbox, “for easy rolling around the job site,” was. In fact, there may not be such a toolbox yet, but believe me, there will be, especially now that I’ve given the idea away for free. You’ve probably used “Post It Notes.” My idea was for removable, without leaving a residue, note sheets called “Sticky Notes.”

And I’m sure you know of and regularly use “Velcro,” that wonderful passively adhesive product so handy in attaching all sorts of things to all sorts of other things. It is, in fact, on my short list of “all you really need to fix almost everything,” along with duct tape, WD40, cable ties (also my idea), and a hammer, but that’s yet another story. None-the-less, long before “Velcro” ever hit the shelves, the need had been recognized and the solution conceived. It was to be called “Sticky Stuff,” and yes it was, in fact, my idea.