A 'Hamster' Story

 Back in the Covid-19 'hamster' period (when certain German food and house items were in short supply....March to May period of 2020)....I found that in the normal three grocery stores that we'd frequent here in the Wiesbaden region, there simply was no toilet paper.  ZERO. 

After about ten such visits, I became a bit worried (hamster-like myself).  The public news people made a big deal about hamster-people.  They should not behave in such a manner.  They brought on toilet-paper company people....who assured the public.  They were working 24 hours a day, and rushing tons and tons of toilet paper to grocery stores.

So I went to my local US military commissary shop (in Wiesbaden), and they had a minor supply (they also had strict rules....2 x packets max).  So I bought from their one merchant's toilet paper.

The odd factor here....this was French toilet paper.  Normally, the commissary would only sell US-made stuff.  I didn't think much about this.

So in the past week, our stock got moved from the basement to the bathroom.  This French-made toilet package was finally opened up.

Then the German wife analyzed things.

Typically, she would buy two-ply or even three-ply toilet paper.  This stuff?  Well....it wasn't even 1-ply....it was half-ply.  

Then came this German lecture....half-ply wouldn't cut it.  It's a stupid lecture that goes on for about 15 minutes.  I ended the discussion by stating that French people don't eat massive plates of Schnitzel, and they don't require 2-ply paper.  That didn't really settle much of the argument.  

The first roll went pretty quick (probably gone in 24 hours).  Then came the roller (the interior cardboard)....which was 3 times the density of any German or American cardboard.  Whatever the weight was of the half-ply paper total....the inner cardboard roll met the same weight.

There are about seven more of these French rolls left now.  My gut feeling is that the wife will 'hide' them until guests arrive, and then put them into use then....hoping that the guests use up the half-ply rather quickly.  On top of that, I'm not supposed to be in charge of buying toilet paper now.  

It's a stupid discussion item, but if  you've been to a German grocery in the past month....the 'hamster' business has restarted, and toilet-paper is on the low end.  Naturally, they all have limit signs up....usually just one or two packages allowed now.