Perspective. It is so easy to lose sight of the big picture these days and turn our thoughts toward ourselves. At the very beginning of this current situation, before much craziness had begun, I was in need to toilet paper and feared there would be none as I was seeing the posts of truckloads of toilet paper going home with one person from the stores. However, my husband walked into Smart and Final and there were multiple packages of the toilet paper we usually purchase. Score! No problem.
Well, that was about a month or so ago and our package has been getting smaller and smaller. Two weeks ago, I thought, "I should start looking for toilet paper so we aren’t caught with none." I wasn’t doing much shopping at this point, but if I went into a store, toilet paper was the first thing I looked for, but there was none to be seen. At the end of last week, I thought I had found the answer! Order online from Smart & Final! Yay! I filled up my cart with the items I was in need of and filled in some extras to meet the delivery minimum. Toilet paper, Kleenex, rice, pasta sauce, cheese, and throw in some Lucky Charms just for fun. Great! My order will arrive by 9:00 AM the next day. Well…9 AM turned into 11 AM, which turned into 2 PM, which soon became 4 PM. And surprise, online ordering really meant a shopper would go to Smart & Final to find the items I added to my cart. Needless to say, none of the items I “needed” were available by the time my shopper got to the store, but my Lucky Charms arrived by 5 PM.
Who is buying all the toilet paper? Why aren’t people considerate of others? What will people do with all their surplus? Why? Why? What will we end up doing when it is all gone? I’m starting to get upset...and then, my perspective shifted. An article came to my inbox addressing this very issue. Toilet paper.
While it is true, some people did and are hoarding toilet paper, the biggest reason for our current shortage is just supply and demand. People are now at home all day. Home usage of toilet paper has been estimated to increase by approximately 40%, but the amount produced for home use has not increased by 40%. Industrial usage for schools, churches, businesses, auditoriums and the like has greatly decreased, if not completely stopped, but industrial toilet paper suppliers are different from home suppliers, so it isn’t as easy as just reroute the supply to Target and Smart & Final.
Hmm. My anger at the “hoarders” just dissipated with this new perspective. There is no toilet paper because there is no toilet paper. I can’t blame it on my fellow community members, it is just a fact. My anger was not justified. I cannot vilify people. Hmm, I shouldn’t have done that in the first place. Sad face, hang my head.
Perspective. It is an easy thing to lose in a “crisis,” but so important to keep.