Why Can't I Find Any Toilet Paper?

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   crankaliciousposted 4 years ago

   If you're like me and have been shopping lately, toilet paper is hard to come by, along with paper towels and tissue - though I've been able to find smatterings of each lately.
   
   What is it about human beings that they want to hoard toilet paper?
   
   What does it say about us during a crisis?

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      wildernessposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      That huge numbers of people haven't a clue as to what their priorities should be?
      
      That huge numbers have been pampered by someone else taking responsibility for them that they can no longer make reasonable decisions?
      
      That panic removes the ability to think rationally, if it was ever there?
      
      That we care far more about ourselves than anyone else around us, to the point that we are fighting to deprive others of what we don't truly need, just "in case"?
      
      Doesn't paint a pretty picture, in any case.

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         crankaliciousposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Is toilet paper like a symbol of how people live their lives though? Like, under normal circumstance, how quickly would the average person run out of toilet paper because they don't keep an adequate supply in their house?

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            wildernessposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Unlikely.
            
            But all it took was perhaps a single person, out of 300,000,000, that bought a couple of enormous packages at Costco, and another to see it and post it on social media. 
            
            The panic began 39 seconds later when 3 friends re-posted.  The first purchase may have been for a church, or restaurant, but it doesn't matter.  Only the report of hoarding.

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2. 59

   Live to Learnposted 4 years ago

   I had wondered about the toilet paper also but in times of crisis people don't think completely rationally. I bought a bulk pack at Wal-Mart when they first started talking about cases in the US. But I don't understand hoarding large amounts. If I run out of tp before this crisis is over I'll have bigger things to worry about than toilet paper. I'll be real close to the leaves and communing with nature by that point.

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   1. 85

      crankaliciousposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think we know if it's hoarding. I'm wondering if it's simply that many people don't keep much toilet paper around. Like they're living paycheck to paycheck, maybe they're living toilet roll to toilet roll.

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         Live to Learnposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Lol. Not from the videos I've seen. Are you suggesting the poor have only the roll in active use in their homes and go out to buy another when that one's gone? I've known a lot of poor people and never heard that complaint. I've owned a few businesses and if that were the norm people would be stealing more than they do.

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            crankaliciousposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Just a joke. I think people seem underprepared for a minor snowstorm if they need toilet paper that badly.

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               Randy Godwinposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               I'll send you some red and white corn cobs, Crank. The instructions tells you to use a red cob first, then use a white cob to see if you need to use another red cob.

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            2. 88

               MizBejabbersposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Around our area it's milk and bread that stores run out of during an impending snow storm, not TP. However, we haven't had a good snow since I retired. Since we live on a hilltop and often got snowed in and I couldn't go to work, I guess I've deprived the good folks in my area of a White Christmas.

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      2. 88

         MizBejabbersposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Once upon a time, we lived in a small house that had very little storage so we lived toilet roll to toilet roll because we had no place to store large packages. Now that we have a larger house with adequate storage, I usually buy TP in packs of at least a dozen so we won't have to stock up so often. Not because we are greedy. I think other folks buy the amount of most items that they have space to store. I don't get buying it all up just because the stores may run out. That kind of buying assures that they will.

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