# Coronavirus--I don't get it.\[hoarding toilet paper\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 8, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107 "2020-03-08T16:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/161 "2020-03-13T11:47:05Z")
I went to my local grocery store just down the street figuring these shortages were just news hype. I don’t care about coronavirus, but I thrive on bottled spring water, and I was little low. But nope, not a bottle in sight, except weird flavored and carbonated types. I passed another aisle that caught my eye because practically the whole of one side was empty shelves. Ah, the toilet paper aisle. It had a sign apologizing for the shortage due to “extreme demand”. So I drove down to another store that I actually prefer, but is slightly farther away. No problem. They had a whole fresh pallet of spring water from which I took four cases. I didn’t really need toilet paper because I tend to buy it in vast quantities whenever it’s on sale, but their supplies were normal so I got an extra pack of my usual brand just to be safe. So a lot seems to depend on how individual stores manage their inventories. They also had the usual open hot-food bars and salad bars operating as usual. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/162 "2020-03-13T11:51:24Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > DIY hand sanitizer. Mix with aloe vera gel. Huh. Guess I’m old school. Soap and water works fine for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/163 "2020-03-13T12:41:29Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have two big bottles of rubbing alcohol at home. I use it to clean my bong and glass pipes. When I read about it being in short supply, I shake my head and say, “fucking stoners”. > > But seriously, people need rubbing alcohol for what? Back in the 90s-ish we used to have a whole hoard of rubbing alcohol and peroxide. Because a local pharmacy chain for some reason decided that a big sale included bottles of each for something like 10 cents each. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/164 "2020-03-13T13:56:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A friend of mine is a retired tattoo artist. When he was working he often did work for people who paid in merchandise of questionable provenance, then he’d sell the merch for cash. I was there once when someone paid for a tattoo with five DVD players new-in-box. > > He once accepted toilet paper for payment. The customer said it was Turnpike Paper. Several unopened cases of the stuff; horrible single ply, in _giant_ rolls that would not fit on a home dispenser. This was around 15 years ago. He might still be using it. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > Hate that stuff. In our office bathroom, the roll is too heavy for the thinness of the paper, so you can’t pull it out. It just rips into a tiny shred in your hand — impossible get enough leverage to rotate the roll. Don’t hold me to it, but I _think_ the dispenser for that kind of roll is supposed to use a motorized spindle… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/165 "2020-03-13T14:53:27Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Don’t hold me to it, but I _think_ the dispenser for that kind of roll is supposed to use a motorized spindle… My friend who was using it in the bathroom of his shop had a little folding table set up and the giant roll just lived there. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/166 "2020-03-13T15:33:27Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Huh. Guess I’m old school. Soap and water works fine for me. 🙂 [Apparently it works better.](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/deadly-viruses-are-no-match-for-plain-old-soap-heres-the-science-behind-it-2020-03-08) > [@](#): > > Soap dissolves the fat membrane, and the virus falls apart like a house of cards and “dies,” or rather, it becomes inactive as viruses aren’t really alive. Viruses can be active outside the body for hours, even days. Alcohol is apparently similar, but less effective. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/167 "2020-03-13T15:59:57Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > [Apparently it works better.](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/deadly-viruses-are-no-match-for-plain-old-soap-heres-the-science-behind-it-2020-03-08) > > Alcohol is apparently similar, but less effective. The point with hand sanitizer is that it can be used when soap/water are not available due to lack of running water. I was at the grocery store the other day. I happened to need something other than TP in the TP aisle and posted a photo of the empty shelves to Facebook. One friend said “what, is snow predicted?” and I said “clearly not: the bread aisle hadn’t been emptied”. We didn’t buy TP because as it happens, I get it via Amazon Subscribe and Save, and we have two cases of it already. If that runs out, I can head down to the nearest pond and catch a couple of Canada [geese](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/572/what-did-people-use-before-toilet-paper-was-invented/)… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/168 "2020-03-13T16:14:51Z")
I just talked to a women who told me her mother has corona virus and is quarantined to her home. This would be a big deal if true, as there have been no cases in western PA so far. The woman I was talking with insists that her mom had a positive test, but I haven’t heard mention of it on the local news yet. I’m wondering if my source is confusing exposure with infection. I’m also wondering why this woman is out driving around if _she_ has been exposed via her mom.😕 Interesting times. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/169 "2020-03-13T16:20:19Z")
My dad just called me, and said he would be around my area grocery-shopping (since the one near my parents house is out of a lot of stuff). When I mentioned toilet paper, he went nuts. “What a spoiled fucking country. How are you going to shit if there’s no food!” - blah blah blah… I was like “Dude, toilet paper doesn’t go bad”, and then I heard the “When I was your age, we wiped our asses with a rock” I wanted to say “Motherfucker, YOU called ME!”, but I don’t mind the few cans of food I should be expecting soon. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/170 "2020-03-13T16:31:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And this is kind of where I think, yeah, I should just buy up the stock and sell it to the squeamish folks on eBay for 4x profit or so. But I guess I’m not an asshole enough to do it. Still, come the fuck on, people. What’s weird is, I was in a nearby shopping center early this morning (Dunkirk, MD) with a Wal-Mart and a Giant Food supermarket. Now Giant isn’t the priciest grocery chain, but they’re definitely more towards the ‘emphasizing quality rather than price’ end of the spectrum. While WallyWorld is all about the price. So I went into Wal-Mart, and they were out of paper goods pretty much altogether. No TP, no paper towels, just bare shelves. They did have some boxes of facial tissues left, but even most of those were gone. At the Giant, which is close enough to the Wal-Mart that it’s easy to park in between and shop at both places without moving your car, there were plenty of paper towels, plenty of TP. So people were apparently so desperate to get TP that they cleared every last bit of it out of Wal-Mart, but not so desperate that if they didn’t get there in time, they’d walk down to Giant and at least compare prices? (Maybe a couple bucks more for a month’s worth of TP. I mean, _seriously_.) Man, I just don’t get people sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/171 "2020-03-13T17:14:23Z")
> [@TheCuse](#): > > I wasn’t aware of that. Thanks. > > But then again I don’t have a spare freezer (just the top one above my fridge). But good to know when I invest in a small chest freezer this summer. If you freeze whole milk or low-fat milk, be aware that freezing will “undo” homogenization. No big deal, just remember to shake the container before dispensing the milk. When my AF dad was stationed in Alaska (I was maybe 3? So 60+ years ago) my mother said the ONLY milk they could buy at the Commissary was frozen. Long after they left Alaska, Momma regularly froze milk so they would always have a ready supply. I got used to shaking up the milk carton before pouring a glass! ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/172 "2020-03-13T17:23:43Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > My dad just called me, and said he would be around my area grocery-shopping (since the one near my parents house is out of a lot of stuff). When I mentioned toilet paper, he went nuts. “What a spoiled fucking country. How are you going to shit if there’s no food!” - blah blah blah… I was like “Dude, toilet paper doesn’t go bad”, and then I heard the “When I was your age, we wiped our asses with a rock” > > I wanted to say “Motherfucker, YOU called ME!”, but I don’t mind the few cans of food I should be expecting soon. This KILLED me! Your dad must be centuries old! My mother used an outhouse when she was a little girl. We’re talking poor farming community here, nothing fancy. My mother used the Sears, Roebuck catalog for TP. She said, “The corset pages were the softest!” ~VOW (Who is stll laughing about the rock…) ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/173 "2020-03-13T17:29:12Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > This KILLED me! Your dad must be centuries old! > > My mother used an outhouse when she was a little girl. We’re talking poor farming community here, nothing fancy. My mother used the Sears, Roebuck catalog for TP. > > She said, “The corset pages were the softest!” > ~VOW > (Who is stll laughing about the rock…) LOL - no he’s just being difficult. I know they stop at many places, and I ask around what time they’ll be over, and he refuses to give me an answer. Hard-headed, even as a senior citizen… My mom grew up in the city, but dad had to use an outhouse, living in the plains. But yeah, you gotta use the best available. “When I was your age, we ate one half of the Sears catalog and wiped our ass with the other half!” (much better than ROCKS) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/174 "2020-03-13T18:15:00Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > The point with hand sanitizer is that it can be used when soap/water are not available due to lack of running water. I went to the store the other night to, just to see; TP aisle was empty but I did buy something on sale that I wanted. This required me keying in [Jenny](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WTdTwcmxyo)’s phone # to get the sale price. I realized that I was then holding that finger out like I had just dredged it thru poop until I was able to wash it off. I wish I had hand sanitizer in the car. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I was at the grocery store the other day. I happened to need something other than TP in the TP aisle and posted a photo of the empty shelves to Facebook. > > One friend said “what, is snow predicted?” and I said “clearly not: the bread aisle hadn’t been emptied”. Same here; almost no TP but I was amazed at how much bread was left - PB&J sam’ichs can last you awhile. There was lots of milk, too. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > We didn’t buy TP because as it happens, I get it via Amazon Subscribe and Save, and we have two cases of it already. > > If that runs out, I can head down to the nearest pond and catch a couple of Canada [geese](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/572/what-did-people-use-before-toilet-paper-was-invented/)… Be very, very careful doing that, it is a violation of [Federal Regulation 50 CFR 10.13](https://www.fws.gov/birds/policies-and-regulations/laws-legislations/migratory-bird-treaty-act.php). :rolleyes: > [@RTFirefly](#): > > What’s weird is, I was in a nearby shopping center early this morning (Dunkirk, MD) with a Wal-Mart and a Giant Food supermarket. > > Now Giant isn’t the priciest grocery chain, but they’re definitely more towards the ‘emphasizing quality rather than price’ end of the spectrum. While WallyWorld is all about the price. > > So I went into Wal-Mart, and they were out of paper goods pretty much altogether. No TP, no paper towels, just bare shelves. They did have some boxes of facial tissues left, but even most of those were gone. > > At the Giant, which is close enough to the Wal-Mart that it’s easy to park in between and shop at both places without moving your car, there were plenty of paper towels, plenty of TP. > > So people were apparently so desperate to get TP that they cleared every last bit of it out of Wal-Mart, but not so desperate that if they didn’t get there in time, they’d walk down to Giant and at least compare prices? (Maybe a couple bucks more for a month’s worth of TP. I mean, _seriously_.) Unless you happened to walk in to Giant right after they finished restocking. > [@MortSahlFan](#): > > But yeah, you gotta use the best available. “When I was your age, we ate one half of the Sears catalog and wiped our ass with the other half!” Sears catalog? He was _lucky_ to have a Sears catalog, all we could afford a postcard advertising some sale which we had to split between wiping & eating. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/175 "2020-03-13T19:06:25Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > When my AF dad was stationed in Alaska (I was maybe 3? So 60+ years ago) my mother said the ONLY milk they could buy at the Commissary was frozen. And frozen bread, frozen bananas, frozen cheese, frozen soda… Of course, you were still better off than the kids with only a manual father. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/176 "2020-03-14T05:50:10Z")
I posted a long description of my recent grocery run, to the breaking news thread, but in short, the entire store had basically been emptied out. I didn’t look in the toilet paper aisle but frozen veggies were completely gone. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/177 "2020-03-14T10:56:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Ever try to wipe your ass with newsprint? Actually, as children, that is all we had. Cut up newspaper hung in the thunderbox. It was not unusual. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/178 "2020-03-14T11:23:31Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Unless you happened to walk in to Giant right after they finished restocking. Probably not; they’d been open only about 20 minutes, and there wasn’t any sign of restocking activity anywhere, just a quiet store first thing in the morning. It’s always possible that their truck came in during the last hour before closing time the night before. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/179 "2020-03-14T12:36:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I just talked to a women who told me her mother has corona virus and is quarantined to her home. This would be a big deal if true, as there have been no cases in western PA so far. The woman I was talking with insists that her mom had a positive test, but I haven’t heard mention of it on the local news yet. I’m wondering if my source is confusing exposure with infection. I’m also wondering why this woman is out driving around if _she_ has been exposed via her mom.😕 > > Interesting times. Got an email from the woman today, explaining that her mom had pranked her. I don’t know what to think. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2020, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107/180 "2020-03-14T13:28:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Got an email from the woman today, explaining that her mom had pranked her. I don’t know what to think. Jesus. This shit is nothing to prank about, regardless of who was doing the pranking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-i-dont-get-it-hoarding-toilet-paper/849107.md?page=10)