I Find It Amusing

Saturday evening, the leading edge of a large snow storm had reached the mid-Michigan area.  On the news, and personal accounts of friends on Facebook, there were reports of runs on the local grocery stores, with the shelves of milk, bread, and toilet paper being left bare.

Now, stocking up on milk and bread in anticipation of being home bound for a day or two, I can understand.  Most people seem to pick up groceries on a whim, sometimes even daily, rather than by doing the sort of planned grocery shopping I do (which is a large shopping once a month, and picking up 3-4 gallons of milk at a time making it unnecessary for me to go to the store more than once or twice a week and some weeks not at all).

What I really don't understand, and find somewhat amusing, is the urge of society to buy toilet paper in preparation of a spell of snow and cold that will most certainly leave the schools closed for a day or maybe two.  Maybe my lack of understanding is because I buy the giant pack of 36 (or is it 48?) rolls when it is on sale in my preferred brand, which makes us at this little place here rarely ever have to worry about running out of toilet paper. 

Honestly, I can give people a break who just happened to be out of toilet paper and bought some while they were at the store to get their emergency stash of bread and milk.  But those who purposely buy extra t.p. because of a predicted spate of inclement weather?

I just don't get it.  I mean, do they really crap so much more during bad weather that their normal weekly supply of toilet paper is not enough to get them through 2 or 3 days until the roads are again passable enough to get back to the store?  Or do they worry that out there on the interstate, out in the elements of nature, in the fury of the storm, the toilet paper delivery truck is going to crash and burn, cutting off incoming shipment to the local stores?

Do they not know that in a pinch, a piece of paper (ala the old Sears and Roebuck catalog) will do?  Or a napkin torn in half?  Or a paper towel cut down to size?  Or a facial tissue?  Or, heaven forbid, a wash cloth????

I mean, once upon a time there was no such thing as toilet paper, all neatly cut to size, with perforations to tear into tidy squares, rolled up on cardboard tubes.  And people still did their business without it, even in snow storms.