Have you ever had an idea for an invention sooo good that you wonder why no one's cashed in on it before? I'm not usually a "get-rich-quick" kind of person, especially since I used to date a guy who was, and things didn't exactly end well. (I was seriously impressed with his idea for a self-cooling pillow for hot summer nights, which, in a stroke of pure genius, he dubbed The Chillow. But when I saw the exact same product in a Sky Mall magazine, including the catchy name, I realized my boyfriend was less prodigy than plagiarist, and we both agreed the relationship just wasn't the same without the web of deception.) ANYWAY, despite the skeptic in me, today I came up with a BRILLIANT idea I know would be a hit at hospitals around the country.

Let me start by telling you that there is a stench in the Mercy Hospital ER like nothing you have ever smelled before in your life. Imagine a slab of hamburger meat left out in the baking sun for three days, then throw in a porta-potty at a carnival with particularly nausea-inducing rides, then top it off with a healthy serving of unwashed feet and B.O. Now do you understand the real reason doctors and nurses wear surgical masks? My invention would absorb ALL noxious odors with the simple flip of a lid. All you'd have to do is open a container of my 100% guaranteed Stink-B-Gone (patent pending... okay not really), and within minutes, any smell would be completely neutralized. Can't you just picture the infomercial?

Okay, so maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself, since I'm not quite sure how the actual science part of it would work, but whoever cracks that nut is seriously going to be a millionaire. Don't be surprised if you see it right there beside The Chillow next time you're bored enough to flip through an airplane catalogue.

Anyway, it got me thinking. What's the weirdest invention you've ever heard of, and did it actually do the job it said it would? Have you ever been tempted to buy a ShamWow, or a Slap Chop, or a pair of dust mop slippers? Have you ever dreamed up an outrageous product, like this lovely hat that doubles as a toilet paper dispenser? C'mon, 'fess up!