Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

I watched a documentary a few weeks ago. Here’s how it went…

1. Spinach in Teeth
They put an actress behind the counter of a busy café. She had a piece of spinach stuck in a conspicuous place between her teeth. The object of the exercise was to discover if people would point out the spinach or ignore the problem. They filmed the reaction of the customers.

Surprisingly, only a few people actually told the girl behind the counter that she had spinach in her teeth. She was pleasant and smiled a lot, giving great customer service. Most of the customers blinked when they saw the spinach and glanced away, refusing to make eye contact while the actress served them.

2. Trailing Toilet Tissue
Next they had a different actress exit a building and walk down the street trailing toilet paper after them. The public responded a little better to this situation with a couple of people stopping what they were doing and chasing down the actress to tell her about the toilet tissue.

I found this very interesting and pondered what I’d do in the same situation. This is what I decided. With the spinach in the teeth, it would depend a lot upon the person behind the counter and their manner. If they were smiley and friendly, I’d probably mention the spinach. If they were grumpy and rude, I’d probably leave them to it.

The toilet tissue—it’s the stuff of nightmares. I make sure I check before I leave the restrooms. I check for that and the dreaded skirt tucked in the undies! *grin* I’d definitely tell someone to save them embarrassment.

What would you do? Do you tell a stranger about the spinach and toilet tissue or do you let them go on their merry way?

I’m participating in a giveaway at The Romance Reviews. A copy of Fancy Free is up for grabs and, just as an aside, I’m currently working on a follow up to this book.

Author Kathryn Blake is giving away a copy of The Spurned Viscountess. You have until 16 Oct to enter the draw at Kathryn’s website.

It’s release day again. This time it’s Cat and Mouse, so trot over to Ellora’s Cave and grab your copy of the latest Middlemarch Mates saga. This is book five.

Cat and Mouse refers to an English-language idiom dating back to 1675. It means “a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes.” The “cat” is unable to secure a definitive victory over the “mouse”, who despite not being able to defeat the cat, is himself too nimble to be caught. In extreme cases, the idiom may imply that the contest is never-ending.

In colloquial usage it has often been generalized (or corrupted) to mean simply that the advantage constantly shifts between the contestants, leading to an impasse or de facto stalemate. ~ from Wikipedia.

In my book Cat and Mouse it refers to the stealthy chase Duncan uses to capture Lana, the woman he’s always loved. If you’d like to read an excerpt follow this link.

Today also marks the start of the Raven Scavenger Hunt.

Add some Sizzle to your Summer and enter the contest at The Hussies. There are lots of prizes up for grabs including a download from me. Here’s the link.

Author Island also has some wonderful contests. How would you like to win a book every week for a year? Or would you like to win a Kindle? These are just two of the contests over at Author Island. Here’s the link.