I’m re-reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point, about how a situation can be going along steadily with a slight increase or slight decrease of something, and then abruptly there’s a BIG increase or a BIG decrease. This happens with fashion fads, he says: a few people will be wearing something, and then suddenly everyone has to have it. It’s not a steady slope, it’s a big plummet.

Where I notice this concept in action is the mold on our shower curtain. There will be a few little dots of grey, and I’ll think, “Huh. Probably should get around to cleaning in here some day.” A day later, there will be a colony of little dots, and I’ll think, “Better move that up the priorities list.” And a day later, the entire curtain is covered in gross, bad-housekeeper mold, and I’m frantically spritzing it with Tilex Mold & Mildew, trying not to scream or breathe.