Okay, here is one of the top debates in many households. Huge arguments have been fought over this one.
Whole factions of people have taken sides one way or another. This issue can pit brother against brother and father against son. Some families have learned to adapt, with one person getting his way and the others paying huge therapy bills. Some lucky families see things the same way and grow stronger. Others fall.
What is this great household debate? Ready for it?
The debate concerns a personal issue: which way to hang the toilet paper (or bathroom tissue in polite society) over or under?
Growing up I was pretty clueless about this issue. I was just happy when there was toilet paper on the roll, and I didn’t have to call out, hoping there was someone within hearing range. There is nothing worse than sitting there waiting for someone to crack the door and fling the roll blindly at you. There is probably a circle of H— where that happens.
But as I grew, I became more aware of this issue. One boyfriend let me know that his father had very specific ideas about how the roll should be, and that he would be extremely upset if it was left any other way. I made it a point to sneak in and switch the roll any chance I could get. I would even fold one of those little triangles on the first sheet of the roll. Bad, I know, but I was much more of a troublemaker then.
You should have seen me with hotel towels.
People will give you all sorts of explanations for why they prefer their toilet paper one way or another, usually related to how easy it makes it to unroll. This makes sense, After all, you just want a couple of sheets; you don’t want to have to exert yourself when you are in there.
The strangest explanation I ever got was from someone who had a small bathroom. He figured that if a robber ever broken in while he was cornered in the bathroom he had just one option left to him in that tiny space. He could, with one quick, rapid fire motion, pull out half the roll and use it to temporarily blind the intruder. This would allow him to squeeze by and run for help. I’d love to hear that 911 call.
Something to think about.