The Toilet Roll Chronicles

I think I mentioned that despite there being huge toilet paper shortages in my neighbourhood, I was able to find some at a Longo's downtown (on two separate occasions, in fact).  My wife was one of the lucky ones last week and got one of the last five packages at No Frills, and she also found some at a Chinese grocery store (which surprisingly, didn't put up a big 'We Have TP' sign in the window), though it was somewhat overpriced.  So we were generally in good shape.

This morning, I was very amused watching the shoppers in No Frills follow a pallet of toilet paper around.  It was pretty much like the pied piper of Hamelin.  There was more rationing this time around, but it looked like it would be gone fairly soon.  I didn't bother picking any up, as I was actually going to retrieve some of what I had stashed at work.  (I'm sure there are some stories from Canada about shoppers getting out of control and pushing back against rationing (like there is going on Australia notably) but generally people in Toronto have been restrained and are generally showing community spirit.)

Nonetheless, I made one quick stop at another No Frills along the way to work, and there were actually some packages left on the shelf, and no one queuing for it.  I thought that was a very good sign.  The hoarding message from my reptile brain came very close to making me pick some up, but I was pretty sure that trying to carry such a large package on my bike would lead me to getting into an accident.  The last thing I want to do is go into a hospital, both for my own sake (to avoid infection) and for the good of society to not overload the hospital system when it will be stretched so thin over the next months.

I took care of a few things at work, and while I didn't interact with anybody at all, other than at the store, I still felt a little guilty about leaving home.  I wouldn't be surprised if there is a complete lock down fairly soon, and biking across the city will be a thing of the past.  So I will need to be strategic about going out, and making sure that I truly cannot catch anything and taking advantage of these last few days of freedom.  (Not trying to be histrionic or anything, but it is likely going to get a lot worse before it gets better...)

As I pulled into my yard, I saw someone pass by with a huge package of toilet paper.  Intrigued, I wandered over to the No Frills.  Imagine my surprise when I saw that they had restocked with these mega-packages, and that it seemed like supply had actually caught up with demand, as there were several packages just sitting on the shelf without people fighting over them.  I did take one, just to be on the safe side, and was astounded to see that it was actually on sale - 30 rolls for $9.88!

So I think the long national (tp) nightmare is over at long last!  And I don't have to buy any more toilet paper for quite some time...