In 1975, the actor-turned-producer Sheldon Leonard (Nick the bartender from “It’s A Wonderful Life”) starred in a short-lived sitcom called “Big Eddie.” I vaguely remember the show but couldn’t have told you its title without IMDb. What I do remember was that Leonard, as usual, played a tough guy (a former gambler, according to IMDb) and that he liked to take bubble baths, which is when his precocious granddaughter would invariably show up wanting to Have A Talk about something, which would make him a little uncomfortable and annoyed.

The reason I bring it up is to prove to the manufacturers of America that I am not the only man who enjoys a bubble bath now and then. You’d never know this from your supermarket or drugstore shelves, where all of the bubble bath products are clearly designed, scented and packaged for either women or children. I feel a little embarassed checking out with either Mr. Bubble or some sort of frou-frou, strawberry-scented product (better strawberries than flowers, which is usually the other option). I’m not asking for Old Spice Bubble Bath, or anything like that — just maybe a bubble bath in some neutral, non-gender-specific packaging, the same way that many bath soaps are packaged and marketed for family use.

Is that too much to ask?