In Focus
Since the announcement the Coronavirus is now a pandemic, people are losing their cool.
I get it. People are scared of contracting it and are stocking up on supplies. I understand people buying soap and sanitizer, but toilet paper?
The virus is respiratory and doesn’t cause gastrointestinal issues, so what gives? Ironically, we had one roll of toilet paper left at the office the other day, and at home I was low. I was recently in several different stores that were wiped out, which is frustrating. Luckily, our local little grocery store was fully stocked. I grabbed one package for the office and one for my house and the looks I got from some people were...interesting.
Again, Coronavirus isn’t going to cause you to be in the bathroom for an obscene amount of time requiring 140 rolls of toilet paper. You know what does? BOWEL DISEASE! Welcome to my world where I’m never far from a bathroom because of my Crohn’s. I am in the bathroom often. More than a normal person, which means I go through a lot of toilet paper. So, I will make certain I don’t run out at home or at work!
For whatever reason people decided to start stocking up on toilet paper, I think it has caused more of a panic because people are trying to buy more now, because everyone else is stocking up. While none of this makes any sense to me, if you have a supply of toilet paper at home, don’t buy more. Step away from the TP aisle and save some for the rest of us!
It’s absolutely insane that people are trying to sell toilet paper online for an obscene amount of money, or just doing it as a joke.
Some of the jokes I have seen: “If you need 144 rolls of toilet paper for 14 days, you probably should’ve seen a doctor long before COVID-19”; “April Fool’s Day is cancelled this year, because no made up prank could match the unbelievable stuff going on in the world right now,”; “Coronavirus is cancelling everything, but my bills”; “Whoever started playing Jumanji, please finish quickly.” I have also seen #coronapocolypse trending on social media. Really? That’s not helping.
I fear sanitation issues now that soap and toilet paper are in short supply. I fear sewage issues as I am sure people are using paper towels and other items that aren’t sewer friendly. Plumbers, brace yourselves. People were already worried about shaking hands for fear of the virus, now I fear that people don’t have soap and TP. Do we want another round of e coli?
I have seen some stores that do have these coveted items, behind a counter and limited to one per person. While there are ways around that, I thank these retailers for giving everyone a chance to get these items and prevent people from unnecessarily hoarding them.
Yes, there is a lot going on with more information coming out every minute. You should see the notifications in my e-mail inbox. Events have been cancelled, hospitals are taking precautions and travel bans have been put in place to limit the spread of this virus.
I’m thankful for Netflix, video games and light show programming...