The Marriage Ref

The wedding bells rang for Sam and Pam Cohen not long after they met at their synagogue. Married just a year, they've already established a lovely home in Fairlawn, New Jersey. But there is a fly in the ointment—or in this case in the shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, shoe polish etc. Sam is a serial toiletry taker. His work requires him to travel extensively—and he's never met a hotel toiletry he didn't love. He has drawers and drawers of every hotel amenity imaginable.

"I know I'm doing the right thing, I'm saving," he explains. "Everybody needs this stuff. I get a rush, I can't explain it."

Pam is aghast at the volume of the collection: there are literally drawers and drawers throughout the house. "We don’t need this stuff," she complains.
"Yes we do," Pat protests. "Our kids will need it. Our family will need it."

Tom asks the panelists if they've ever taken things from hotels. Martha admits to keeping shower-caps; Cedric jokes that he likes to go big, taking "robes, comforters, duvets," he says with a smile.

Asked how he thinks Tom should rule, Jason says it's a quest of proportion. "If he's opened and used the containers, it's OK. If he's out taking things off the cart, it's another story. Besides he's got so much. He's going to be shampooing his kids' heads with 20-year-old shampoo. If you need o get a piece of Ikea furniture to store your stolen hotel room items, it's gotten out of proportion."

Tom asks Natalie Morales (our Just the Facts contributor) how the hotels feel about it. Generally, she says, they're fine with it. The small cost of the toiletry is more than offset by the goodwill and positive memory of the hotel it evokes.

Jason's got a brilliant idea. "I want him to become a hotel Robin Hood. He needs to take all this stuff and start giving it out to people who need it: shelters, students. I don’t mind the stealing; it's the stockpiling I don’t like."

Tom makes the call, explaining to the wife. "Pam, you married a giant nervous squirrel. Squirrel's live in panic; they're hiding stuff in holes. It's OK, people like squirrels. Sam you win!"

Sam agrees to give some of his bounty away to worthy causes.

The Cohens received a Second Honeymoon on a Royal Caribbean Cruise. For more information on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas or Mariner of the Seas, please visit royalcarribbean.com.

Travel journals coming soon!