Is it ironic that the apocalyptic adventure movie 2012 aired on television in the midst of the great toilet paper frenzy?
While not the most compelling film, it tells, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek way, of the end of the world as we know it. In this case, it shares how the Mayans predicted that the Earth’s magnetic poles would flip and the Earth’s crust would explode and destroy civilisation in December 2012. (According to scientists, the bit about the magnetic poles reversing can happen — about every 300,000 years or so. As for the world being obliterated, obviously that hasn’t occurred.)
Of course, a common theme in the movie is people fleeing and screaming in sheer terror, doing whatever it takes to save their own lives and those of their children. Meanwhile, many government heads and officials, along with some ultra-wealthy individuals, find escape routes to ensure their survival. That meant being airborne in a gigantic, ultra-modern, hi-tech aircraft that could fly endlessly. Perhaps it would land when Mother Earth had finished unleashing her fury and oozing hot lava. Or maybe they could fly to Mars or the Moon and attempt to start over.
While there is no specific reference to toilet paper in 2012, there are some interesting parallels to the panic-buying that has been occurring in some parts of the world. In fact, it parallels to almost any sci-fi drama flick. The world, apparently, is doomed, people become fearful and there is mass hysteria. Those with the means hoard to protect, leaving many others without.
Where is the real-life balance and humanity that we all supposedly crave?
It’s one thing to be aware of what’s occurring with the highly infectious and novel coronavirus, but it’s another to react in a panic-stricken way. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly announced that there was the possibility of a pandemic with coronavirus. Health officials have advised us to use common sense with our self-care and hygiene.
They said, quite clearly, that it’s best to be prepared and ensure that you have sufficient essentials in the event that you contracted coronavirus and/or needed to confine yourself to your home for approximately two weeks.
But as we have seen, that advice has been taken to extremes.
Like a couple of cows or horses getting spooked in a herd, it has spread like wildfire, and rapidly. Suddenly most of the mob is panic-stricken, out of control and stampeding. They’re completely unaware of what is actually going on around them. They just keep running because other herd members are.
Sometimes the herd causes harm to itself or others in the process, through collision and/or getting in a tangle. Other times, it eventually peters out. The mob catches its breath and calms down. Everything goes back to normal, providing they haven’t stressed or compromised their immune and/or nervous systems.
In the case of the coronavirus, we have been stampeding supermarkets and online retailers because of what is really a deeply embedded scarcity mindset. Our thinking is along the lines of, “Others are doing it and I don’t want to miss out”. We don’t think there will be sufficient toilet rolls, nor rice, tissues or pasta, when there actually are. Instead of being prepared for two to four weeks, we stockpile for six months, a year or more.
With online and offline shelves stripped bare, not surprisingly producers and suppliers were caught completely unaware. Once the stocks are replenished we are, understandably, faced with the rationing of toilet paper and other essentials. This will, hopefully, ensure that everyone can get what they need; they’re fair share.
We all have a choice in how we can approach things. Surely, at this stage of our evolution, we can do better than regress to a herd mentality. Aren’t we supposed to become more enlightened in our progression? What happened to thinking for ourselves, and doing so with consideration for others, so we can take healthy and appropriate actions?
We know we are capable. We rallied together to help people, animals and landscapes severely impacted by the very recent Black Summer bushfires, and will continue to do so. While the fires were destructive, do we also do it because we know the actual cause of them? Yet with COVID-19 being a new strain of the coronavirus, we don’t know enough about it. There is global uncertainty.
For now, it seems that the great toilet paper frenzy will continue to reveal some other less desirable characteristics of humankind. People have been fighting other customers in what they perceive as a desperate situation. Others have been outraged, hurling and yelling abuse at staff in supermarkets or stockists of toilet paper because they have run out and all they wanted was a handful like normal. Some have even decided to profit from the situation by selling toilet rolls to the highest bidder on eBay.
What next? Will toilet paper become the new currency?
We have, to a lesser (and humbling) extent, seen some kind people freely giving toilet rolls to neighbours or community members who actually need them. My senior aged neighbours, for example, couldn’t get any toilet rolls last week. Thankfully, we were in a position to give them some to help get them through, and would willingly do that again for them or others.
Perhaps, as the wise and compassionate Simone M. Matthews said in her recent blog post, the coronavirus and the toilet paper frenzy are here to teach us to move beyond our underlying fears. Those fears that we perceive as threatening our very survival. Interestingly, she cited the symbolism of toilet paper from Niki Edwards, a senior lecturer for the School of Public Health and Social Work at Queensland University of Technology, as representing “control”. There’s no doubt that this great toilet paper frenzy is multi-layered.
Last week (not anticipating that I would be writing a blog post about this subject), I shared a photo of the longstanding sign at the Bright Community Garden, in Victoria’s north east, on social media. I’ve always smiled to myself and nodded in agreement whenever I walk past it. It speaks so simply and directly.
While the sign may be referring to how much produce you may freely pluck from the community garden’s bounty, to me it applies to all aspects of life. For instance, how much food do you really need? How many properties do you need to own? How much do you need of anything?
Most of all, how much are you willing to share?
If we are to learn anything from the great toilet paper frenzy, may we all increase our understanding of ourselves, others and what truly matters in life. Because deep down, we all want what’s best for ourselves and others, don’t we?
What do you think we can learn from the great toilet paper frenzy?
By Kristin Lee
Main image by congerdesign at Pixabay. Other toilet roll images also from Pixabay.
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