THE LITTLE THINGS

April 14, 2020, Tuesday

The big to-do about the shortage of toilet paper or the hoading of toilet paper has had it's amusing moments. Apparently serious news reports explain that since we're all sheltering in place, our home comsumption of TP has increased and our consumption of TP from offices, hotels, and other commercial establishments, has nearly stopped. They point out that the manufacture and distribution of TP for use in the home is different from the manufacture and distribution of TP for institutions, and thus the shortage is a manufacturing and distribution problem.

Whatever. Do people really buy only one or two rolls at a time?

My husband shops at a big box store about every three or four months and sometimes brings home a big package of 36 rolls of TP. This lasts us quite awhile, but I was curious to find out exactly how much we use. So two weeks ago I noticed that on the same day we'd placed new rolls by the two toilets we normally use. I made a note of this. Yesterday --- a little more than two weeks later --- we replaced one of the rolls. The other roll still has about 1/3 left. It's easy to calculate that two people with normal needs use a little less than one roll each week. We have about 25 rolls on hand, so we're good for at least half a year.

Even if we should eventually run out of TP there are other options. During World War II there was a general paper shortage. Newspapers reduced the number of pages in each issue and books were printed on very cheap paper that soon grew yellow and brittle. I was not very old, but I do remember that we ran out of TP for a short time. My mother, always resourceful, cut up some of her old, tissue paper sewing patterns and laid the pieces on the lid of the toilet tank. As far as I know, we flushed them down as usual without sewer problems. There are now websites with additional options.

So what's the problem? Were people fearful for a real reason, or were they simply stampeeded into buying lots and lots of TP because they saw other people doing it? The TP panic will be a humorous footnote to the tragic story of the Plague of 2020.