I’ve been nervous about so many reports of toilet paper shortages. I’m not about to start using catalog pages, as some of our friends have waggishly suggested. My wife and I are both elderly with serious underlying conditions, and it’s dangerous to go to one or more stores searching for something like toilet paper.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 arrived in my rural Maryland Carroll County starting last Friday. The state government has closed all restaurants except for takeout/delivery, starting yesterday. I keep running into rednecks who claim it’s all a Democratic hoax to impeach Trump a second time! (Seriously.)
Yesterday I read in the local paper a story about the impact of the restaurant shutdown on local restaurants, and the owner of one was quoted that she had access to restaurant supply channels that most people don’t have, so she was planning to offer delivery of toilet paper (and also cigarettes).
Bingo! One of her four pizza joints is in my nearest town so I called and ordered a takeout sandwich plus some toilet paper. They’d just stocked up on toilet paper the night before, and I was the first caller for that. I was quoted a price of $50 for a “case” of TP, and I went for it, not even asking what was in a case. Desperate. Pathetic. Ten minutes later they called back, after a discussion with the owner, and offered a second case for another $10, since the owner obviously felt guilty about the price-gouging. So I immediately went for that.
So 30 minutes later the driver showed up with my sandwich and two enormous boxes of TP, which are now dominating my living room. That’s 96 rolls of single-ply restaurant-quality TP. My beloved wife, who does most of our grocery shopping, thinks that’s a fair price for so much TP, FWIW.
I hope this doesn’t count as hoarding. At least I’ve removed my TP anxiety for quite a few months.
Incidentally, I was inspired to make the move, and to diary this, because I saw a comment here a few days ago from somebody who recommended finding people with access to restaurant supply companies. At the moment, at least, they have vast stocks of TP. And of course they’re eager to sell since so many restaurants are closed.