Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twelfth day of the month is "Complaint."
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I was recently listening to an episode of a podcast where the host recently got COVID for the first time and she was talking about how COVID makes you really sick and all the complaints people had about COVID were true and I wish I could describe the face I made at my phone because, like, OF COURSE, person I normally like, but am very irritated with right now, millions of people DIED. It took YOU being sick to realize it was serious? FFS. Anyway. I still have never tested positive for COVID, but when I inevitably get it, I promise to not act like I'm the first person to ever be sick. (I mean, I'll be a Big. Baby. But I won't act like I'm special about it.)
ANYWAY.
That wasn't even my complaint, but my complaint is COVID-related. Remember the toilet paper shortage early on in the pandemic? Well, because of this, we were forced to buy some very substandard TP. And we bought an 18-pack of it. I'll tell you right now that it was single-ply Scott's and it's terrible.
You know why I'm using the present tense? Because we still have some of it!
We were eventually able to get some better TP and we sort of slid the Scott's to the back of the linen closet, but I have been trying to use it and right now there is some on the roll in the upstairs bathroom and it's enough to make me just go downstairs to use the bathroom because that's where the good paper is.
I think we still have four or five rolls to go. I'll take your thoughts and prayers.
Do you have any lingering pandemic inconveniences in your life?
Bad toilet paper is THE WORST. Is there nowhere you could donate it? Okay, suggesting that makes me feel like a jerk so maybe not. You have my condolences.
ReplyDeleteI always feel a little perplexed when people talk about living in a "post-Covid" world. Is that... true? I feel like we are IN the Covid Era, not past it. It hasn't gone away. (I get that the pandemic has ended, based on whatever criteria is used to determine pandemic from endemic.)
My lingering pandemic purchase is all the cloth masks we bought in 2020. I was packing up a closet and came across two huge bags FULL of them. We used them all the time and I remember having to buy a bunch of different options for my kid, who was finicky about them but who had to wear them all day in school (and also needed backups). I decided to throw them away because... I don't know what else to do with them. I did save one of my daughter's first masks. My dear friend made her ten masks out of an old sheet and an old pillowcase I gave her -- enough so that my daughter would have two for every day of the school week. They were custom made to fit my kid's face, and they were such a comfort to me. I am putting one of those in my daughter's box of keepsakes, and maybe someday she will take it out and tell her own children about the Covid pandemic. I wonder what her memories will be from that time.
Well, I think COVID is going to be with us forever, like it's cold, flu, and COVID season. But I do think we're past the emergent phase of COVID and between people with antibodies because they've either had it or been vaccinated, most people who get it now will be inconvenienced, rather than get really sick, so when I think post-COVID, I think post-emergent COVID. (Also, I still think about COVID every day, so I'm definitely not post-COVID personally at all.)
DeleteI threw out all our cloth masks as soon as N-95 and KN-95s were readily available. We have a box or two of each and I think we will definitely wear them if we are sick or using public transit, so I kept our N-95 and KN-95s. I was listening to a podcast about the current state of COVID and was very gratified to hear one of the experts say that if you're still wearing a surgical or cloth mask, you might as well not be masking, so I think my strategy is solid.
Here in Florida we kind of forgot about Covid a while ago (well, not really, but that's the attitude here.) I just had a client come in who I hadn't seen for a while- he's an older man and he had Covid and was REALLY sick. He had to be hospitalized. He's okay now, although he still has some breathing issues. It was a reminder that Covid is still out there and it's still dangerous for some people.
ReplyDeleteUgh, that toilet paper story is funny but also horrible. I'm trying to think of another use for it, but of course I can't.
Yes, COVID is still out there and people can still get really sick, especially medically fragile/complicated people, but the vast majority of Americans have either had it or are vaccinated, so I feel good about the level of antibodies out there. Your client is a good reminder that it's not just gone away, though!
DeleteLife is too short to use scratchy TP. Either donate or keep those rolls in the back of the closet for an apocalyptic emergency. Or TP someone's house!
ReplyDeleteTPing someone's house with it is the frontrunner plan for right now!
DeleteYou do know that after all of these years, you could just let it go? 😜
ReplyDeleteI do not think you understand my level of frugality. I'm in my 40s and currently wearing a dress I bought in high school. It's still USABLE.
DeleteI'd put that stuff in the basement storage and save it for the gravest of emergencies. Someday, someone on TikTok might invent a way to use it for something fun or unusual. You have time; it's not like it's going to spoil.
ReplyDeleteLike Suzanne, I have lots of cloth masks that were made for my husband and me by two dear friends. Discarding them feels dismissive of their kindness and effort. And I have lots of n95 masks, too, as well as a partial box of regular blue disposable masks. Even the Cleveland Clinic doesn't require masking anymore. Tossing them feels like tempting fate since covid is still with us and mutating.
Oh, I'm definitely keeping our boxes of N-95 masks, although those surgical masks are pretty useless. Maybe we won't need the N-95s for COVID, but for the next mystery virus.
DeleteLol at Birchy's suggestion to TP a house! Wait, is there someone you hate, maybe you SHOULD. It would be great use of it! When I was preparing for the move I found so many things I stocked up on, and they were weird things, like cream of tartar. Why did I think I would need six boxes of cream of tartar? I gave them away on my buy nothing page to people with small children who would like to make play dough. I also found - and these I did move with us, but god knows why - boxes and boxes of ziploc bags in different sizes. I obviously bought them at Costco because they were in three-packs, but why? I don't use ziploc bags very much at all. So my grandchildren will probably be dealing with them when I'm dead. My kids threw away all their cloth masks, and I threw away a lot of my own. I still have THREE BOXES of disposable ones, I guess if need be. I know people are still getting Covid, so I guess we are still IN the Covid era, but I don't think about it much at all. Sometimes I do think about what it was like during the pandemic, how much sadness and despair there was every single day, and all the really weird things we did in lockdown, and I do wonder what would happen if something like this happened again. Anyway! Back to happier things! I am now at the stage where I don't immediately stress or spiral if I can't find something at the grocery store, I don't immediately assume that it is PANDEMIC SHORTAGE WE WILL NEVER GET THIS AGAIN which is how I felt for most of the pandemic, which is how I ended up with multiple bottles of lemon juice and bags of popcorn (all of which are long consumed by now).
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved from our apartment into our house, we had three containers of cream of tartar. WHY? (The answer: I only use it for one recipe once a year and I clearly always forget we have it.) Still. I feel like we are cream of tartar soul sisters.
DeleteIt is interesting because I still think about COVID nearly every day. I think that when I officially resume ALL activities that I would do pre-pandemic, I'll say that I'm officially post-COVID. But since I still won't eat in a restaurant, go on an airplane, or go to any crowded indoor event, I think it's safe to say that I'm not quite there yet.
There's a house nearby that was TPd, and whenever I see it, I think of the lockdown period and how difficult it was to get TP, how I would go to the RiteAid at 7am on Fridays because that is when they got their delivery and stand in line. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, my mom was visiting and she tried to convince me that Scotts was better than our TP. So she put it in the shopping cart and we brought it home. She didn't mean to buy single ply (do they have 2 ply?), but there it was. We had it for quite a few years. I put it in the back of the cupboard, and we considered it our emergency TP. When we got to that roll, we knew it was time to go buy more. It worked well for us, but once it was gone, we didn't buy any more.
I didn't know all Scott's was single-ply. That explains so much! I definitely won't be buying more of it unless there's another nationwide TP shortage, but I hope that eventually we also get rid of ours!
DeleteWith a current uptick in Covid case, it's still very much on my mind... although I have recently stopped wearing masks (but am tempted to reconsider, at least for crowded spaces).
ReplyDeleteI never understood the whole TP hoarding. It was not high on my priority list (although we also never ran out) and I would have happily used a wash cloth to clean myself up than buy single-ply toilet paper. All this to say, I feel you. Can you use up the last few rolls for a different purpose? I'd totally go where the good paper is.
We're going to power through and use up all the rolls because I'm that kind of frugal lady.
DeleteI am vaguely concerned about the current uptick in COVID cases, but I'm reassured by the experts who say the current strain(s) isn't too bad, most people have antibodies, and it's all going to be okay. I have to trust in that.
Oh hah! I have also never gotten COVID, despite two kids and the Husband having it... I don't quite trust it, and think I *must* have gotten it along the way and just failed to turn up a positive test....
ReplyDeleteThe public library here is still passing out free COVID tests and masks - I'm surprised that the program is still going.
I am laughing at how it is taking you literally *years* to get through 18 rolls of toilet paper. I had a friend once who used toilet paper for bookmarks.
Yes, I am very specific when I say I've never tested positive for COVID because it's unlikely that I haven't had it, right?! I mean, that seems crazy!
DeleteHuh. I can't even find tests anymore and you have free ones being handed out! What a difference a year makes.
I hate buying toilet roll, I feel like i'm always getting ripped off - if I go cheap then it's awful,and if I pay more sometimes it's not twice as good as the cheap stuff. I also feel like we are running out of toilet paper all the time. We almost ran out during the pandemic, which I was really annoyed about because it seemed so stupid that people were hoarding toilet roll.
ReplyDeleteThe other day I found a box with two cloth masks in it. I've thrown away all the other masks but for some reason I'm saving these two. I also have a mask exemption badge (this is a UK thing and I realize does not translate at all to the USA) which I am saving... for no real reason. The mask situation was way different in the UK than the USA in so many ways and I feel like these two things (the cloth mask and the badge) are reminders of that.
Hey, maybe someday your local museum will want those cloth masks and the badge as an artifact for a display on the weirdness of the 2020 pandemic!
DeleteI also hate cheap TP, but also hate spending so much money on something I'm literally flushing down a toilet. I generally go with 2-ply. I like 3 ply better, but my kids use the same amount of TP whether I buy 2 or 3 ply, so it's a better bang for buck to go 2-ply. But sometimes I splurge and 3-ply is lovely. It's the little things, eh!
ReplyDeleteI still have quite a few cloth masks, but threw out about 50% of our stash. But I'm not sure why I have any because the cloth masks aren't really effective AND if we go to a place that still requires masks (like a hospital), they make you change into a fresh mask upon arrival anyway.
Are there still places that are requiring masks in Canada? I don't know if there's a single place that does near me. Even our local hospital has done away with them!
DeleteOMG you def have my T&P for that horrible paper. I could not deal!
ReplyDeleteHmm, COVID inconveniences... only things I loved before no longer being produced because they were not a priority during the pandemic. Like All Dressed chips.
Also, wtf with that podcast host! Did it put you off listening to them?
I've only ever had all dressed chips in Canada. I never knew they were available here in the States! I'm retroactively sad on your behalf.
DeleteI really like this particular podcast in general, which is why I'm still listening to it. I'm hoping it was just a blip, but I was pretty unhappy with this host at that moment.
Oof. Bad toilet paper is awful! We avoided that snafu because we had an amazon prime subscription to charmin TP and they must have prioritized their subscription customers! So it paid to have that subscription during the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we have any lingering pandemic inconveniences that I can think of! We never stocked up on things to the extent that we are still working through inventory all these years later like some did. I'm so glad that life is pretty much back to normal for us. I do wonder if the pandemic is why Will is extra clingy and particular about caregivers? But we'll never know if that is just his nature or if it was because he saw so few people during the pandemic.
I have so many questions about pandemic babies! I'm sure lots of studies will be done on their immune systems/social skills/etc. as they get older!
DeleteI applaud you for persevering with the crappy TP. (😜) I have a few boxes of home tests lingering in a drawer; they're probably not good any longer at this point.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...you're right about the tests. I should see what the outdate is on our remaining tests.
DeleteOh man, bad TP drives me crazy. Your powers of frugality to continue to work through it are amazing. I remember being in Target sometime in late February or early March (before COVID shut things down) and hearing someone on the phone say "They have toilet paper here!" and I rushed right over to pick some up. I wasn't worried at that point, but figured since everyone around me was stocking up, I should, too, lol. And I made sure to get the GOOD STUFF.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Covid feels like the flu. It's something I'm concerned about, but I will get my vaccinations when available and be mindful of being out in public when I'm sick. I do still have all of my cloth masks, though, and these comments are a good reminder that I don't need to hang onto them anymore. I have a stash of N-95s, and that's all I need.
Yes, COVID is like flu! And that's why I'm sort of worried! I had the flu once that morphed into pneumonia and broken ribs and I'm just not up for another round of being sick like that! But, pre-COVID I went out in public maskless, even with the risk of flu, so I need to get back on the going into public without worrying train.
DeleteCOVID is still here. I'm still freaked out about how much I'm going in to the office this semester (and it starts tomorrow, with our all school forum, sigh). I would wear a mask but... I am feeling ever more self-conscious about it. I shouldn't, right? I mean, I trust my students (they are nursing students, after all) but sitting in a big room with all sorts of people? Not high on my list...
ReplyDeleteAlso, my college roommate bought Scott TP. It sucks. Big. Time.
I'm a bit nervous about COVID, but nowhere near the state I was in at the beginning of the fall semester in 2021 or 2022. Progress! Our friend who was going through cancer treatments last year isn't masking up anymore, so I take my cues from him. But if things do get bad, I will not hesitate to break out my masks again.
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