Tampons

Let me start off by saying that this was not the first thing I noticed but it keeps coming to mind.

One of the first things we did when we got here was get all of the essentials for our place since we had virtually nothing here. Toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper... I wanted to make sure I had some tampons for when the time came. I was shocked at the limited selection of tampons. I am use to going to the closest grocery store and finding an entire isle of tampons to chose from. I did not expect to not be able to find tampons with applicators. I thought this was a basic feature. I don't even like the paper/cardboard applicators. Tampax Pearl is a beautiful thing. It is nearly impossible to find tampons here with an applicator of any material. When I get some free time I will do some research into what benefits applictorless tampons offer but the only one I can think of is less waste; recycling is much more important here. When I showed my boyfriends sister a tampon with an applicator it was like I was showing her some foreign tampon implanting device.

I must admit, though, that when I first started getting my period I had never been told or taught how to use tampons. I tried one without knowing that the plastic part was only to help get it in place. I didn't realize you didn't leave it in. I couldn't understand how people would say that you 'couldn't even feel it' because, well, I definitely felt it.

So I wonder if the number of blonde Swedish woman has anything to do with the fact that they don't sell them here but I don't think that they could be that stupid. I mean, you could always put a how to/instruction guide or some sort of pictorial on the box.

Another theory I have is that Swedish woman don't mind touching themselves for two reasons: (1) they are a lot more open here and (2) they don't take sanitation as seriously as we do in Canada.

I am sure it has to do with a combination of all these factors but I would be very interested to find out what the tampon industry's history here has to do with it. I'd say that in Canada there is about 5% shelf space for these applicator-less tampons.