But yes, if the TP runs out there are other paper goods still to hand, though newsprint isn’t as common as it once was, paper towels can be had. So can kleenex for now. Once they run out, regular towels and cloths combined with a lot of water can be deployed as makeshift hybrid bidets. Presuming the water and power hold out, both the shower and the laundry will facilitate.

Once we’re past that, I’ll be a bit at a loss. No that many trees around here. Though if we’re at it that long, they will sprout leaves. They won’t last long in the city though if everyone is after them.

I figure with those plans I’m doing well for someone who was never an infantryman.

But I might get some more TP. Just in case. Also, the place I live does have ongoing access to the commercial TP market so long as that holds, so there’s that.

All this will give me a new appreciation for the simple joys of squeezing the Charmin.

Who am I to judge them?

My grandparents (born in 1898 and 1899) raised many children using chamber pots and an outdoor privy. Corncobs for boys, last year’s Sears catalog for the girls. My aunts and uncles said it was an honor system.

I’ve personally used various leaves and grasses whilst in the infantry and hiking and such. A few memorable times we cut strips off our undershirts.

I’m a huge fan of TP, but can’t we come up with some workarounds when it’s in short supply?

I’m beginning to see this virus as a good and necessary thing. It’s time we collectively learned a few lessons and some self reliance.

That and we’d have to stop using the flush toilets. Most stuff won’t.

Not that it would be impossible but we don’t want to get to the point at which we have to adopt solutions that increase the unsanitary conditions at a time when people are supposed to stay locked in.

That was an excellent Medium piece. The kind of thing that raises a good point and makes it so well that it seems obvious, in retrospect, to those of us who hadn’t given it much thought.

It’s mainly the supply-side argument but the demand-side version of the same argument works- it’s rational to stock up on toilet paper if you and your family are suddenly going to be spending a lot more time at home with one or two bathrooms instead of outside with access to workplace ones.

Maybe not so much, but hey. You need it at least daily.