Sharing the toilet paper

Angela Guiao
MSMU Class of 2021

(4/2020) I was listening to the radio a few days ago, and I heard this story about a man who was being commended for sharing toilet paper.

It seems he had decided to sit by the side of the street holding a sign that said, "Share your toilet paper", and a bunch of people misunderstood and started handing him rolls of toilet paper from out of their cars. It got to the point where he had a whole stack of toilet paper, so whenever a person would stop their car and tell him they couldn’t find toilet paper in the stores, he’d give them some.

While, personally, I did get quite a chuckle from this story, after a little reflection I realized the seriousness of the underlying meaning of this whole situation.

But before I explain, I would like to backtrack a little first. These are stressful times. I hope by reading this, you do not think that I am downplaying the risks; that I am too naVve to the hardships presented with the appearance of the corona virus.

I know the constant worry, the subtle fear that every single time you touch a door handle, hold a gas pump, pick up the mail, the remnants of the virus are on it and I am guilty of the hurry to find some hand sanitizer or wash my hands.

People are staying home, some by choice others not. Businesses are closing, and some may not be capable of opening again at the end of all of this. And everyone is trying their best to stay as far away from everyone else.

During a time like this, you got to fend for yourself, right?

Wrong.

It will be okay. Some of us have a better chance at that than others. Some of us have a better chance at being okay. And because of that, I believe it is our responsibility to take care of those whose chances aren’t as great, to take care of those who are at risk.

During a time like this, we should care.

We should care about everybody and everyone because everybody and everyone is being affected. It is during this time, this time when we are expected to physically stay far apart that we should instead come closer as a community, as people, as a species.

Now, I know that some of you may wonder why. Why should we care about others? Will others provide food for your families, money for your bills? Will they take you to the hospital when you are sick? Do they even care?

And my answer to that is because we should. I don’t know why we should care about others other than the fact that it is the right thing to do. I don’t know if others will do the same for you, but that shouldn’t be a reason why we can’t do for others.

What I do know is that we can’t go about thinking only about ourselves. We can’t go about hoarding more resources than we need knowing that there are others with none. We can’t have the social Darwinist perspective in times of tragedy and confusion because why should only the fit survive when we all can, together?

Don’t give in to the panic. Don’t give in to the hysteria. Take care of those who need to be taken care of, those who you can help. And if ever comes the time when you need help, God and the good karma will come around as always.

Sometimes I get asked why I care so much about this kind of stuff. Why do I care if we care about each other?

Well, because I should.

My mom is near the at-risk age for getting corona and she can’t stop working because then she won’t get paid. I don’t want her to go to the store one day and find that she can’t buy anything she needs because it has all sold out.

I have a little sister, and she wouldn’t understand if I came home one day from grocery shopping and told her all the diapers sold out.

We all have people we care about. Why can’t we care about all people?

I know I may sound silly. Everyone already has so much going on; so much to think about in their own lives. And now, I am asking you all to care about everyone else too. Silly me.

Silly us.

Our society has become too self-absorbed, too selfish, too caught up in our own lives and problems that we forgot that we are part of a community.

We forgot how to care about others.

This month, we celebrate both Arbor day and Earth day, and it appears that the most we’ve cared about the trees or the earth is whenever it’s the topic of a political debate.

We need to care more. We need to care about the sick, the elderly, the helpless. We need to care about our world. We need to care about our planet and all the living things on it.

I hope that during these upcoming weeks, the longer we spend time trying to stay apart, we realize the importance of caring for one another. I hope that without the everyday distractions, we learn to appreciate presence and nature. As businesses close earlier, restaurants restrict orders to take out, and travel is restricted to only essential needs, I hope you decide to spend time with a loved one. I hope you take a walk, take your kids to the park, enjoy some fresh air.

I hope we strengthen the bond we have with each other as humans, as a community, as a people. I hope we appreciate the world we live on and all the living things we share it with.

I know we can do better. I know we will do better. The man with the toilet paper did. We can too.

Let us start to care about those around us. It’s what we need to do.

Let’s share the toilet paper.

Read other articles by Angela Tongohan