Accident, Or Invention

Just in case you were wondering, Frito's, the heaviest of all the salted snack treats, can be used to create beautiful designs in your concrete staining.

I was watching a show on TLC where couples would buy houses, decorate some rooms to their tastes, and then the previous owners would see what they did. Some contractors were working with some concrete stain for a design in the kitchen. To add some texture to the stain, they crushed up some Frito's over the concrete before they applied the acidic stain. The grease in the chips absorbed the acid and created some random colorization in the application. It looked great. I was marveled by the creativity that was applied to this effort.

It then occurred to me. How the hell did they come across this technique. I think there are some creative people out there, but I don't believe for a second that someone actually thought of this in strategic manner.

Contractor:
"Hey boss, maybe if a crunch up the Frito's onto the concrete, we'll get some really neat effect."

Or maybe it happened like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup discovery.

Contractor 1:
"Hey, your Frito fell into my acid stain."

Contractor 2:
"Hey, your acid stain fell onto my Frito."

Nope. This idea had to be an accident.

Which is the case for many of the inventions that are commonly used today. Cheese, Frisbees, Chips, Coca-Cola, and Popsicles were all accidents. I personally believe these people should be called out when they brag about there discovery.

Cheese Inventor:
"Hey! I invented cheese!"

Me:
"Bull crap, you traveled across the Arabian desert and the milk you put in your sheep stomach pouch curdled into a bloated lump of bacteria. It was an accident."

My personal favorite is the story behind the discovery of Viagra. Viagra started out as a treatment for Hypertension when it was observed that the subjects that were taking the drug would have prolonged erections. What I would give to have been in the room for that discovery:

Simon Campbell (Chief Scientist from Pfizer)
"Nope, the Hypertension is still there, but holy crap look at this thing! It's been like that for 2 hours."

Anyway, I think you get the point. So take this away with you. Be wary of the next accident you have, it may be the next greatest invention, like the cure for baldness or bad judgement. And if it is, I would like to be your first customer.