Little Synchros: The Lint Roller

Not all synchros are huge, sweeping and powerful. Some are small and seemingly silly and happen almost daily. I used to dismiss these small synchros as oddities, but I’m beginning to think they may be significant in ways we don’t see at first. Here’s what I mean.

A few days ago, Rob came out into the kitchen holding a lint roller. “Hey, the next time you hit Walgreen’s, could you get some replacement adhesives for this thing? “ He set it down on the table and I thought of the various ways we use this simple device. It’s great for getting Noah’s fur off the seats in the car, for removing cat fur from the couch, the blanket, the chairs.

So today I was headed to Walgreen’s and dropped the lint roller in my purse so I’d be sure to get the right size. But when I finally found the aisle at the drug store where the lint rollers were, I couldn’t find any replacement coverings, just lint rollers. I asked a clerk if they carried the replacement coverings, and he said he would ask the manager and be right back.

Within a few minutes, the man returned to the aisle with the female manager. She checked the stock and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but we’re no longer carrying the replacements.”

Okay, fine. I bought a new lint roller for three bucks and change. When I got home, with the new lint roller, Rob and I got a chuckle over the fact that the replacements probably cost less than a buck, so why carry them if a NEW lint roller brought in three times the money?

Before going back to work, I logged on to a game I play on my iPad. A hunt and banish game. The collection item that came up was one I’d never seen before: a lint roller. My first thought was: what a silly synchro. Rob and I got a good laugh about it, about how silly synchros like this happen almost daily and that it might be cool to gather several of them for a post.

Then this evening I was writing a scene in my novel where the protagonist, a young woman who is an animal communicator, is at the site of a particularly brutal murder. I knew something was missing and thought about the lint roller. I Googled, What is a lint roller? Google delivered a response:

A lint roller or lint remover is a roll of one-sided adhesive paper on a cardboard or plastic barrel that is mounted on a central spindle, with an attached handle. The device facilitates the removal of lint or other small fibers from most materials such as clothing, upholstery and linen.

The moment I saw the words “other small fibers,” I understood the synchro. Using a lint roller, the protagonist is able to find hairs that forensics analyzes and which ultimately lead to who the killer is.

Not so small, after all! This one seems to fall under secret #4, The Creative,  from our book  7 Secrets of Synchronicity.