The Economics of Everyday Things: Used Hotel Soaps

日常事物的经济学:用过的酒店肥皂

Freakonomics Radio

社会与文化

2023-02-13

16 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Hotel guests adore those cute little soaps, but is it just a one-night stand? In our fourth episode of "The Economics of Everyday Things," Zachary Crockett discovers what happens to those soaps when we love ’em and leave ’em.

单集文稿 ...

  • Hey there, it's Steven Dubner.

  • You are about to hear one more episode of our newest podcast, the economics of everyday things.

  • I hope you like it, and I hope you'll stick around to the end to hear my conversation with Zachary Crockett, the host of the show.

  • And if you want to hear more, just look for the economics of everyday things in your favorite podcast player.

  • And follow or subscribe.

  • Okay, here's Zachary.

  • Back in 2009, Sean Seipler asked himself a question that has occurred to pretty much everyone who's ever stayed at a hotel.

  • At the time, Seipler was a bit of a road dog.

  • As a tech executive in sales, he spent around half his week traveling across the US, Minneapolis, La, St.

  • Louis, all over.

  • This is a guy who racked up a lot of nights in hotel rooms.

  • And on one of those trips, something caught his attention.

  • That little bar of soap in the hotel bathroom.

  • There'S a natural I don't want to waste things in me.

  • And as I would use a bar of soap one time, there was always a little nag inside of me that I'm leaving it here.

  • So in that hotel room in Minneapolis, after a couple cocktails, that nag led to asking the question.

  • I called the front desk and asked, what happens to the soap when I'm done with it?

  • From the freakonomics radio network, this is the economics of everyday things.

  • I'm Zachary Crockett.

  • Today used hotel soaps.