Fellow Australians answer me this

… why toilet paper? Why hoard toilet paper? It’s not going to stop the Coronavirus, it has zero nutritional value, and certainly no taste. Plenty of food on the shelves, but toilet paper is what is being sold out.

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I’m not Australian, but I suspect it’s due to reports of toilet paper running out in Asia. Wasn’t there an armed hold up of loo roll being delivered to a shop in Hong Kong?!
And the more people hear about others stockpiling, the more they worry it’ll run out…

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It just seems irrational to hoard toilet paper.

Apparently most of the toilet paper in Australia is made in South Australia so I’m living in the epicentre of loo roll supply!

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It does seem odd, especially if that’s the main thing they’re hoarding.
People are weird.
Here in France, there’s been plenty of toilet roll in the shops, partly because the French don’t use as much - because they hardly seem to go to the toilet! Not anything like as often as in the UK, anyway.
I see it in my coworking space, in bars, and in the tiny queues for loos at festivals and the like. I think people drink much less water… and their coffees are tiny, and … yeah. I get self conscious about how often I go for a pee!

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We went shopping on Friday last week. The only thing we couldn’t get was dry yeast, for bread. We ended up going through 5 stores, before we found any!

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LOL, I don’t think that will stop the virus either!

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I guess they figured that something might hit the fan in the next few weeks.

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Baking bread is such a lovely hobby, too! I believe some prepping lists have much flour and yeast on them to bake bread.

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My girlfriend told me that they are making masks out of paper towels and toilet paper - in Asia. So, maybe that is why.

Rubber bands, a stapler, and papertowels/sheets of toilet paper…

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Hmm, that’s not very effective.

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Well, they say masks are not that effective anyway. And, you are suppose to change a mask with frequency. Several layers of papertowels is probably just as good as a mask - if you fix it right and put the rubber bands on it.

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Reports are that Aussies from the Diamond Princess spent over 2 weeks in quarantine on the ship, and then were sent to Howard Springs for a minimum 2 week period. There have been reports the 2 week quarantine period restarts each time a new case shows up in a quarantined area. And now Australian federal and state governments are strengthening laws giving powers to force those diagnosed with the virus to self quarantine. So some people think the hardest thing to come by if quarantined for weeks or months will be TP.

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Could always get deliveries from the supermarkets or Amazon? I just think toilet paper is something strange to freak out about rather than, say, stocking up on non-perishable foods?

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For some reason I guessed the nature of the thread before opening.
The same behaviour happens in the UK at the slightest sign of a crisis. Everyone panic buys loo-roll, milk and bread, so suddenly there is a real crisis generated.

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Some of the memes being made because of this are bloody hilarious though.

We buy in bulk every few months via an Amazon subscription and just got a new delivery last week. Sitting on a gold mine :laughing:

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I have to give you extra hearts for this one! :heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

The one thing about toilet paper is that it WILL eventually get used, I guess. Remember Y2K panic…hardware stores couldn’t keep generators in stock, people buying cans of tuna out the wazoo! I hope they really loved eating tuna salad and tuna noodle casserole!

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More panic due! https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-51747892/coronavirus-in-australia-lorryload-of-toilet-paper-catches-fire

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Yeah, you can always use the newspaper (Northern Territory are allegedly publishing that their paper is good enough to wipe your rear with - the UK saying is a newspaper isn’t good enough to wipe with, if you don’t agree with its politics). We get enough newspapers and advertising junk in our mailbox to hold us over for months in an emergency…

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BBC reports that the newspaper has printed 8 extra blank pages for toilet paper emergency use :laughing: BBC News

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I’ve got a buddy who works at Costco (US wholesale club) and he was sending me pictures of the insane lines at his store. People are nuts! Should spend that cash on 3M stock rather than this irrational panic-buying. Make some cash off this thing.

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