If there is one measure of misinformation about COVID-19, it would be the number of emptied shelves of toilet paper. As far as I can read online, the symptoms of COVID-19 do not include a leaky anus. So why the panic buying of toilet paper?
This article tries to explain why. It cites one psychologist who says people hoard because there is "comfort in knowing that it's there. We all eat and we all sleep and we all poop. It's a basic need to take care of ourselves."
And so here comes the Dutch PM telling citizens to relax, saying there's enough toilet paper for 10 years that "We can all poop for 10 years."
I have to admit such potty talk made me laugh at the absurdity of panic-driven behaviors yet cannot deny the seriousness of the situation. This morning at 7 am, sirens from police cars patrolling the streets of Amman let us know the curfew in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has begun and we must take it seriously. Apart from the siren's wee woo, it is deathly quiet. Having raised three boys who are now in their 30s, I wonder how families with young, active children and living in apartments without outdoor space will cope until the curfew ends. Well, I know that's the least of our worries in the wider scheme of things but not hearing the normal movements of kids going to school or playing outside makes me feel like a blanket of doom has covered the earth.
And so here comes the Dutch PM telling citizens to relax, saying there's enough toilet paper for 10 years that "We can all poop for 10 years."
I have to admit such potty talk made me laugh at the absurdity of panic-driven behaviors yet cannot deny the seriousness of the situation. This morning at 7 am, sirens from police cars patrolling the streets of Amman let us know the curfew in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has begun and we must take it seriously. Apart from the siren's wee woo, it is deathly quiet. Having raised three boys who are now in their 30s, I wonder how families with young, active children and living in apartments without outdoor space will cope until the curfew ends. Well, I know that's the least of our worries in the wider scheme of things but not hearing the normal movements of kids going to school or playing outside makes me feel like a blanket of doom has covered the earth.
Back to toilet paper, I am amused that there are websites on toilet paper history as well on the history of lavatory language. And if you are really curious about toilet paper consumption, you will know it is actually an important commodity tracked by market statistics. I like this one by the Observatory of Economic Complexity showing China as the top exporter and the U.S. as the top importer. A very nice relationship.
Still, this toilet roll hoarding behavior makes me think of how our perception of what the 'basics' are can become distorted. Fun facts on the Toilet Paper History website puts out this statistic that about 70 to 75% of the world's population do not use toilet paper. That is not such an outrageous percentage if you have lived at all in parts of the world where the cost of a roll of toilet paper can be more than the cost of a loaf of bread. I grew up in a very rural area of the Philippines and you don't want me to tell you the ways, other than water, that we used to clean ourselves post-defecation.
We think of water as the universal solvent, not paper, and then we wonder why bidets are not common in the U.S.? This takes us into an interesting history of hygiene practices related to our most basic bodily functions. And here I'm looking at the design of the Toto Washlet or this Kohler bidet - . It gives me the sense that we have this most basic need to poop but wish we shouldn't be pooping at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment