
Ask HN: The strange phenomenon of stockpiling ‘toilet paper’ - jelliclesfarm
Are people afraid that they will shit themselves to death? In that case, shouldn’t they be buying meds rather than stockpiling for untreated diarrhea? Is this a first world problem?
======
rs23296008n1
I will be camping later this year for 3 months into places where shopping will
be impossible. I'm not planning on taking anywhere near what people have been
hoarding. Whatever the reason I hope they plan on eating food as well.

A few reasons why some people use a lot of toilet paper: poor diet, food
contamination, lack of fiber, lack of exercise and just being overweight. The
overall process requires hydration to flow, physical movement and general
ability to digest. Even regular walking helps with later bowel movement.

Perhaps these people are revealing more about themselves than they realise?

------
simonblack
When the SHTF (pun intended) things to be shipped will be ranked in priority
according to the cost-effectiveness of its transport.

Obviously, scarce transport will be used to ship high-value, low-physical-
volume things rather than low-value, high-physical-volume things.

Gold is the definitive high-value, low-physical-volume item.

Toilet paper is the definitive low-value, high-physical-volume thing. As such
it sits very low in the scale of transport priority. Consequently, it becomes
one of the first items to run-out when a crisis hits.

However, most families would normally keep several weeks' worth of toilet-
paper on hand. So the current run on toilet-paper is, in my humble opinion, a
waste of time, angst and money.

------
mytailorisrich
People fear being stuck at home for weeks, in which case toilet paper may come
in handy...

As in the case for all panics, there is a snowball/contagion effect. People
see others panic-buying and empty shelves so they also start to buy for fear
of lacking.

------
ksaj
I think people are reading into it deeper than they need to. When the news
says things like "people are stockpiling X" then a lot of other people who
otherwise don't wear tinfoil hats might be more inclined to stockpile some X
for themselves to avoid needing it when the stores have already run out. It's
not that they are worried that coronavirus will suddenly make them need so
much toilet paper, but that the apparent toilet paper hoarding forces people
to stock up before they run out.

In that regard, I see it as a cyclical sheeple problem.

------
webninja
I was literally out of toilet paper, paper towels, and hand soap but couldn’t
bother buying them since I was exhausted from working 50-60hour weeks. The
Coronavirus caused our management to be concerned for our health and this gave
us a break to go shopping. So naturally I buy whatever I need or have run out
of.

This makes me wonder how many other people in the world are also tired and
exhausted.

Thank god for time off.

------
rozim
As we say in backpacking, "you pack your fears".

------
davidjbain
Fear of missing out, and by getting items such as toilet roll, pasta and
cleaning products people feel like they have some control over the situation.

------
gshdg
People are just worried it’s going to sell out and they’ll be left without
any. After shelter, water, food, and critical prescriptions, TP is the item
that most people anticipate being most miserable without.

Also, the young single men who populate this site often forget that women (who
are half the population, remember) need toilet paper _every_ time they go to
the bathroom, not just for “number 2”.

------
heartbeats
It's a quality of life thing. People think you only need to stockpile food.
Obviously, it's better to have food than to starve. But there are also
important psychological aspects: if the Internet goes out, what are you going
to do all day?

Thus, it's important to stockpile "luxuries": board games, toilet paper,
candy, etc.

------
DeedsMoraine
It's something that will get used eventually even if they don't need it, so
they can justify hoarding it.

