The toilet paper hoarding craze began soon after the coronavirus was discovered.
Images on television and social media of people struggling to buy toilet paper and emptying store shelves in Hong Kong swept across the globe like a wild prairie fire.
People saw the craze. Fearing a shortage they bought all the they could, assuming that toilet paper, like so many products on store shelves, comes from China.
North America supplies its own toilet paper and manufacturers have said there will be no shortage.
That is a so-called rational explanation for the hoarding madness.
According to some experts from Australia where the craze caught on after Hong Kong, the toilet paper craze has deeper roots.
Niki Edward of the School of Public Health and Social Work at Queensland University had this take on the issue for the World Economic Forum online service.
“Toilet paper symbolizes control. We use it to “tidy up” and “clean up.” It deals with a bodily function that is somewhat taboo.
“When people hear about the coronavirus they are afraid of losing control. And toilet paper feels like a way to maintain control over hygiene and cleanliness.”
Alex Russell from the Queensland University School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences had a different outlook.
“People aren’t only stockpiling toilet paper. All sorts of items are sold out like face masks and hand sanitizer.
“People are scared and they’re hunkering down. They’re buying what they need and one of the items is toilet paper."
Some people “use toilet paper as tissues” and feel they will need it if the virus strikes.
And there are no substitutions for toilet paper.
The coronavirus does not cause diarrhoea.
The toilet paper craze has become so strong armed robbers in Hong Kong stole $600 worth in a heist.
In Moose Jaw two older men had words over the last rolls on the shelf in a local grocery store. The store had a large toilet paper display near the front door.
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
