Trouble in the Loo

I had a 48-pack of double rolls hiding in my closet—my little secret. While others ran around town scrambling to find even single-ply off-brand toilet paper, I took comfort in the fact that I had ordered a box of eco-friendly, extra-soft three-ply just prior to shutdown. Hashtag me “blessed.”

Whether you live in a 3,000 square foot home or a one-bedroom flat, your basic needs are the same. You need food. You need warmth in the winter and relief from heat in the summer. You need plumbing, electricity, and someone to take away your trash. You need someone who can help you heal when you are physically or mentally unwell. And, yes, you need something with which to wipe.

We Americans are a determinedly independent lot. We think we’ve got life handled on our own. I take care of mine. Do you, though? Do I? Do any of us, really?

I was worried about my kale—my kale and bananas.

While I had the toilet paper covered and had secured an online site for ordering pantry staples, produce was difficult to come by without a trek to my local grocer. We had been asked to stay in, to limit trips to the store. I have a strong drive for self-preservation and will do what I need, not only to survive but to thrive. Hence, the kale—and the desire to follow the county mandate to stay at home.

“I’m headed to the store. What do you need?”

A phrase we hadn’t heard in decades was echoed throughout the nation. As I received this text from my daughter one morning, while I sat sipping tea and working from home, enjoying freshly baked banana bread, I began to think about all of the people who support us each day.

When I wake, I shower. Water pours from the spout. I don’t make that happen. Once I use those bananas to make that bread, someone carts away the peels. I can work from home, because I have a computer on which to write. Someone conceived the idea for it, manufactured it, packaged it, shipped it, and helps me troubleshoot when it fails. To make that happen, others conceived of the concept for the packaging for it, manufactured the packaging, packaged it, shipped it … and so it goes.

I walk about my home probably as you walk about yours—feeling empowered, accomplished, large and in charge. Independent as fuck. But if we could fit inside our homes all of the people who make that space and that life possible, we wouldn’t have a closet big enough for all of the toilet paper we would need.

Gratitude today for all of those who lift me up, who build my life. #blessed