In brief

What's the deal with toothbrushes these days? The ceramic, wall-mounted toothbrush holders that are standard equipment above the bathroom sinks in most New York City apartments haven't changed much in the 25 years I've lived here. But the handles of the toothbrushes in drugstores have ballooned for no good reason that I can discern. What used to be one of those happy matches of thing and storage that I took for granted is now one more source of frustration in cramped city living. No one I know has extra counter space to accommodate an extra vessel in their bathroom, so toothbrushes are laid across the holder (instead of being popped neatly into the holes), and that prone position makes them vulnerable to any careless gesture. A toothbrush that has been knocked into the thicket of hair and cat litter that carpets the corners of our bathroom or—worse—into the spat-tered bowl of the sink is not one I'm inclined to use again.

Why are toothbrush makers doing this to us? What is the logic of making something that doesn't fit? Is there something I'm missing? Doesn't this bother other people? Why aren't people talking about it? Why doesn't someone do something out it?