Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Ode to TP

I am currently meditating on how very thankful I am for toilet paper. It had never crossed my mind before living in Venezuela as something to be thankful for. In the US it is so incredibly easy to find, always present in numerous styles, sizes and scents, and always in abundance. This is not always the case in Venezuela. On numerous occasions in the last two years we have experienced a scarcity of TP. Last year on a visit from the North West our leadership even packed an entire case of TP in their suitcases to bring to us. 

I have a new respect for this simple daily item. I have consciously counted how little I can get away with using each day. I have used napkins, kleenex, paper towels and even notebook paper as replacements. Yes, today I am so very thankful for toilet paper. 

I almost leapt with joy when I saw a few packages on the shelf in the store today. We haven´t seen it in any stores since last week, when of course we had plenty. I thought to myself... I wonder how many packages I can get away with buying? I wonder if like milk when it was hard to find last year, there is a limit to one or two per family? So I bought two packages and I also bought several packages of kleenex, just in case there is again no TP to be found when we begin to run low again. And here I am, happily home with my toilet paper... writing about it for all the world to see.

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