# Is Sheryl crow Righ? (Reduce Toilet paper=less GW)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 25, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594 "2007-04-25T15:23:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/81 "2007-04-26T06:37:31Z")
[QUOTE=kidchameleon] Not that obviously, apparently. [/QUOTE] And we’re back to square one. Thanks for coming, everyone. Be sure to buy some orange drink in the lobby. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/82 "2007-04-26T10:04:56Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] Why the “Ifs”? I gave the link, and you can see how they reported it yourself. I read it as a straight news report (albeit in the “entertainment news” section) but still, no hint that her comments were meant as a joke. So which is it? Is the BBC “shit-stirring” (on behalf of GWB, no less), or mentally impaired? [/QUOTE] Yes, I see that they reported it the same way the American networks did (almost word for word). So unless they’re mentally impaired (and I’d like to think they’re not), they’re stirring shit where none exists. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/83 "2007-04-26T11:55:07Z")
Not only was it instantly recognizable as a joke, it’s an old joke, just told a little differently. I heard it as two campers talking about trying to lighten their packs. One says that for a 10 day outing he just carries 10 squares of toilet paper. The other says he just carries one. When the 10 square guy asks the one square guy how he makes do, he says that on the last day he just cleans under his fingernail. Here you have to do a little mime of someone cleaning shit from under his nail. It’s old enough that the first time I heard that I laughed so hard I fell off my dinosaur. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/84 "2007-04-26T18:16:43Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun] Yes, I see that they reported it the same way the American networks did (almost word for word). So unless they’re mentally impaired (and I’d like to think they’re not), they’re stirring shit where none exists. [/QUOTE] I honestly wonder _what_ they were trying to do. You wouldn’t think the BBC reporter would be deliberately obtuse, but it’s certainly odd that they included the parts about using one square of TP and wiping your mouth on your sleeve, but _left out_ the part about washing out the TP. If you’re writing an article about how loony a celebrity is, I don’t get the point of leaving out the _looniest_ thing she wrote. The only reason that makes sense is that the TP-washing thing is so obviously a joke that _nobody_ could possibly read it as being serious. So they were either being deliberately obtuse, or did a very poor job of researching the article. Either way, it’s bad journalism. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/85 "2007-04-26T18:23:44Z")
They think we’re nuts, so none of this shit surprises them. They read it, shrugged, said “Bloody Yank wankers!” and went with it. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/86 "2007-04-26T18:30:04Z")
[QUOTE=lowbrass] And we’re back to square one. Thanks for coming, everyone. Be sure to buy some orange drink in the lobby. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: [/QUOTE] And be sure to wash the square out when you’re done. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/87 "2007-04-26T19:19:44Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] They think we’re nuts, so none of this shit surprises them. They read it, shrugged, said “Bloody Yank wankers!” and went with it. [/QUOTE] Then why’d they leave out the most outrageous part of the article? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/88 "2007-04-26T19:27:07Z")
[QUOTE=lowbrass] Then why’d they leave out the most outrageous part of the article? [/QUOTE] My guess is that they were copying and pasting from American reports of the story without bothering to research the context for themselves. ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/89 "2007-04-26T19:33:42Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] My guess is that they were copying and pasting from American reports of the story without bothering to research the context for themselves. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that must be it - they didn’t even bother to read the article they were reporting on. Kinda lame. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2007, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/90 "2007-05-27T23:27:03Z")
And now, over a month after all this nonsense, “Prickly City” pretends that she meant it: [Stupid “satirical” comic strip](http://www.gocomics.com/pricklycity/2007/05/26/). What a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/91 "2007-05-28T00:08:52Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] I don’t know. There was just a big article in the New York Times about a family in New York City who didn’t use the stuff at all, choosing to only consume products grown within a short distance of the city. . [/QUOTE] So how did they manage? I’ll have to read it myself via my college’s library website. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594/92 "2007-05-28T00:20:25Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] So how did they manage? I’ll have to read it myself via my college’s library website. [/QUOTE] They used water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheryl-crow-righ-reduce-toilet-paper-less-gw/401594.md?page=4)