Roll Up the Rim

 
There's always a long line at my regular Tim Horton's on the first floor of my building. The lines are even longer at this time of year because it's "Roll-up-the-rim" time. Timmy's has a special contest where you can win prizes by simply rolling up the rim of your coffee cup. I'm just about to do it right now ......

Rats! It says, "PLEASE PLAY AGAIN/RÉESSAYEZ S.V.P" (Remember, we're a bilingual country so we get to be disappointed in two languages.) Back in 1993 I won a stereo system by rolling up the rim and I'm hoping for a big screen TV next time.

Believe it or not, some people have trouble rolling up the rim. Apparently, there's an epidemic of broken fingernails and other serious injuries during the Tim Hortons promotion in March and April. That's prompted an Ottawa inventor to come up with a nifty tool to help out [Ottawa invention makes it easy to play again... and again... and...]. I guess they don't have anything better to do up in Ottawa.

The Rimroller tool is marketed by Lee Valley Tools. Now, you may be wondering why a company like Lee Valley would be involved in marketing a tool to roll up the rim of Tim Hortons coffee cups. You weren't? Well I was, so I looked on their website and read what the President had to say.

When we were first shown the Rimroller many months ago, we recognized immediately that this was an elegant, well-designed, and well-manufactured product at a very reasonable price. It was one of those products that just delighted people when they used it. We also recognized that the inventor, Paul Kind, had plowed a ton of time and capital into bringing the product to the point where it was ready to market. So, while Lee Valley is clearly not the most appropriate retailer of this product, we could only stand by for so long watching Mr. Kind work hard to sell this product without success.

That certainly explains it.

Want to know how it works? ....... Okay, I can respect that; but for the rest of you, here are the simple instructions.

This is an easy-to-use product. Essentially a curved clip with two integral (covered) blades, it slices the cup rim twice (1-1/8" apart) when pushed down, and an internal lip unrolls the paper edge when it’s pulled up. Push, pull and you’re done. 2" high, 1-1/2" wide, with an attached split-ring.

Invented and manufactured in Ottawa, Canada.

You can buy them wherever you find a Lee Valley Tools store for $1.95 (+tax). Personally, I'd rather save money on the Rimroller and buy another coffee. I really need that TV 'cause the World Curling Championships are coming up next month.