I knew it the minute I put the new roll on the holder. This new toilet paper was, well, crap. I sat down on the floor of our half-bath and immediately wished I could go back. Back to Target to select the cushiony, double-rolled brand with the adorable little teddy bear.

But I couldn’t go back now. For one thing, I had thrown the receipt away and you know how Target is about that.  Secondly, and more important, I had argued and lobbied to my wife how I just couldn’t justify spending that much on something we just flush away. I put together a compelling, ten minute discussion as we moved up and down the aisles – a compassionate speech that was meant to persuade both her and anyone within earshot that toilet paper is bad for the environment and that by spending that much we’re just falling in line.

“We might as well burn trees in our own yard,” I stated in front of the pharmacy. “By spending that much we are just telling them to stick it to us,” I pleaded in front of the Organic milk door. “Think about it honey, if we get the $6.50 pack, we can earmark that savings towards the girls’ college funds,” I petitioned near the socks.

Eventually, my wife gave in. Sometimes, when it is something that doesn’t matter, I can convince her to let me do something. Something stupid. And so, I did.

I proudly took the name brand stuff back. I placed it on the shelf like I had just solved world hunger. Found a cure for AIDS. Won a World Series. If my body language could speak, it would have said: “Look here corporate minions, y0u won’t get my money. I am going with brand X and keeping money in my pocket!”

On the way home, I probably stopped at Starbucks to get a coffee.

You know what is crazy? This horrible toilet paper won’t go away. It is thin. Weak. Frail. Brittle. It causes clogging. It has been a disaster. But the odd thing is that has been a disaster for about four months! You know how good toilet paper never lasts long enough? When you get to the last roll of a 24 pack you think, Already?!??!

Not with this stuff, I cannot get rid of it. One weekend we had some family come for a visit and we broke out the good stuff. The good stuff here being the soft, cushy toilet paper. It was a wonderful weekend.

When they left I marched into the bathroom, sat down and……WHAT!? There it was, back on the roller. The pitiful toilet paper!

“Honey! Why is this toilet paper here? What happened to the good stuff?”

My wife said we had to work our way through the rest of the roll.

That toilet paper is like a bad decision. Sometimes in life, we make a decision in the heat of the moment that seems to be awesome. We make a compelling argument inside of our heads.

But we walk away and later find that decision was, well, crappy.

Moral of the story – think through your decisions. Like a really bad roll of toilet paper, some mistakes in life don’t go away very quickly.

(No toilet bowls were harmed during the writing of this post).