Quarantine thoughts: Why does toilet paper have stamped designs? We use it for one second.
By Caterina Erdas
Being home and not hanging out with my Baltimore friends is unsettling. I am really lucky to have a strong group of friends back home that I feel close to. I never talk to them when I am at school, but whenever we meet up at home, or if they stop by my school, we always pick up right where we left off.
We tried the House Party app that keeps popping up in our ads. While most businesses are tanking, the few businesses that are benefiting, are really benefiting. For an unexpected example, Jelles Marble Racing is a small YouTube channel that has gotten amazing opportunities due to the pandemic. As the name implies, it’s a high production marble racing channel with different teams (Go Hazers) and riveting commentary. It’s hard to explain. Anyway, all sports are postponed because of the pandemic, except for marble racing. So, Formula E started a collaborative series and a Formula commentator was commentating on the marble racing. Another one of their series was aired on ESPN. Sports programs have nothing better to do so they are joining forces with a marble racing YouTube channel with less than 1 million subscribers. How freaking cool is that?
Around the world, people panic and hoard different things. In the US, no matter if it’s a hurricane or pandemic, toilet paper is the go-to. This is my theory why. Nice bathrooms are a symbol of wealth. In the US many people renovate their bathrooms more than the rest of their house into a white-tiled throne room. Nothing reminds you that you are a mortal animal more than peeing, pooping, vomiting, and diarrhea. People like nice bathrooms because it makes them feel more civilized in their most vulnerable state. By extension, if you have to use something other than toilet paper to wipe your butt, it means you aren’t civilized anymore, the loss of order and good, and you cannot control the world around you. Toilet paper is a comfort blanket for your booty.
This is my last entry. This has been the longest month of my life. I always have dreams where I am running, but I move super slowly. The end of April embodied that feeling. Now that I am getting accustomed to this new normal, time moves by quicker. I have a lot of projects and exams for the end of the semester, time moves even quicker. The future is unknown, but, as Dory would say, you got to keep on swimming.