The great toilet paper hunt of 2020

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So a friend of mine calls the other day, asking if I have toilet paper. Uhm, not exactly sure how to take this. Because, no I don’t have much left as apparently I was the only person in town to not go crazy and buy enough for the next 20 years when it was still in stock. And now I can’t find it anywhere. Thus, if they are offering some – great. If they are asking for some – yikes, I have none to spare. Sensing my hesitation, they went on to say they were going to the next town over to see if there was some in stock. They’d get some for me if I would like. Oh, wonderful! A few hours later, I hadn’t heard anything back. Fine, whatever, I’ll find some eventually. Much, much later, I get a call. They were bringing toilet paper my way. Cool! The toilet paper fairy left the bag on my porch. In the bag was individually wrapped rolls. Like what you’d get at a restaurant or a hospital. Uhm… And also a receipt from what appeared to be a coffee shop in a town over a hundred miles away. Okay. I know people are getting cabin fever. I know supplies are hard to come by. And I know gas is basically free right now. Plus, it was such a pretty day for a drive. But to go that far for a few rolls of toilet paper? Please tell me they bought other essentials as well! Yet, this is life right now. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, and it often seems no end in sight. I’m sure going a hundred miles for any reason right now felt a bit like making a daring daylight escape from prison. We aren’t designed for isolation and confinement. We're created for connections. Hopefully, the biggest lesson everyone is learning right now is that. Online isn’t, and never will be, a substitute for face to face interaction. So hold on a while longer – we’ll all have a giant party together – next year…


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