Tricky toothpicks

 A small mishap occurred while shifting house and home today  - very small.

It's 6 am. I am a nervous traveller and probably an equally nervous shifter . Just realized this today. 

I woke at 4.45  am and while making my tea I decided to multi task . I realized that multi tasking at work is something I do so well , and with extreme  regularity, but trying that at home, with the weight of the shift playing on my mind, was a very different experience. 

I saw one of those small containers which have about a few hundred toothpicks in them and decided to put   it into a plastic bag.

I know you're wondering as to why that caught my attention. Now I am wondering the same thing .

Needless to add the tea water came to a boil at exactly the same time.

Being extremely particular about my tea , there was a momentary lapse of concentration  and the wretched toothpicks spilled on to the counter top. 

Not wanting the wife to give me a morning lecture as she would be apt to do if she saw the mess , I attempted to put the toothpicks back into the container as quickly as possible. Easier said than done and this  is the point of this mini story.

There were definitely a few hundred tooth picks that fell out,  but only half could fit back in. My rather thick fingers and thumb didn't help ease the struggle . 

How the Dickens they pack them so tightly  beats me. Surely it is an art or maybe a science for all you know. 

Anyway,  after quite a struggle, I managed to put half the amount back and binned the rest .

My tea was cold by then and the packers would soon be  ringing the doorbell. 

My wife was none the wiser .

Here ends my story.