Balm

You never really need lip balm until you NEED lip balm. Case in point, my trip to Lake Tahoe. Cold, dry... my lips cracked until they bled. I went on a pilgrimage for Carmex and it saved the day.

There's a lot of things I don't need until I really need them. I really didn't need the letter A in the Subway Scrabble game until I was one letter away from a much needed vacation. I really didn't need a new hair brush until my purse got stolen in the very same Subway parking lot. I really didn't need that bottle of wine I consumed afterward. Ok, so these are non-essential items. But its funny how a want or need perpetuates another need like that, or rather perpetuates a string of choices that ends up with a want.

For example: I have a headache and need to get rid of it.
I need: Advil, a massage, food, to go outside

My line of work, marketing, tells people that if you have a need it can be resolved completely by one thing. If I'm hungry, I'm obviously having a Big Mac Attack. If I'm thirsty, I need a Coca-Cola. If I'm young, fun and thirsty I need a Pepsi.

Truth is, a number of things could fulfill my need to get rid of my headache. Like the lip balm, I could have gone in search of Chapstick, Burts Bees or even Vaseline. But I drifted toward Carmex because that little tub with the yellow lid has always worked on the rare occasions I've needed it. Did I need Carmex specifically? Probably not. But it was so ingrained that, if I have chapped lips, I must have Carmex that I couldn't accept anything else.

So I quested.

Like I've quested for the perfect mexican food that will fill the hole left by my favorite place, Teresa's, when it closed down, I quested until I found my lip balm. Need fulfilled.

So I pose these questions.

What do you need?
Is it really what you need or do you want it?
Why do you want it?
Is it worth the quest?
When you can't find what you need, do you go with the substitute? Or, do you choose an alternate path?

Would you quest for lip balm?