For those of you who are unaware, Australia is currently suffering what can only be described as a 'toilet roll crisis'.
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, many Australians have been panic-buying toilet paper, with many supermarkets being left with empty shelves. Per the BBC, #toiletpapergate and #toiletpapercrisis were trending on social media on Wednesday.
The frenzy began after new cases of Covid-19 emerged in Australia over the weekend, and the first local death was reported; a 78-year-old man in Perth, Western Australia. Sadly, another coronavirus death shortly followed, as a 95-year-old from Sydney died on Wednesday, the BBC reports.
The global crisis has led to many instances of irrational and unacceptable behavior. Such as this NYC subway passenger who was filmed spraying an Asian man with Febreze:Now, many of the country's largest supermarket chains have been forced to limit the number of loo roll purchases per buy.
Per news.com.au, Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi have been forced to introduced limits on toilet paper sales as a result of shoppers leaving the shelves bare. Each of the big outlets has confirmed that they are limiting sales to four packs per customer across the country.
But now, one woman has taken to social media to urge shoppers not to bulk-buy toilet paper after she spotted an elderly man struggling to purchase the essential item.
Sharing an image of the seemingly distressed elderly resident on Facebook, Justine Bowers of Perth has taken aim at those panic-buying toilet paper, as she recalled her experience while shopping at Beldon Coles. Bowers wrote:
"This absolutely broke my heart seeing this old man grabbing tissues because there was no toilet paper left! I offered him the very few toilet rolls that I had as I couldn't [bear] to see him go without! Pull your f**king head in people and stop panic buying toilet paper!!! And shame on all the people who have been buying in bulk because it's affecting so many people who aren't fortunate enough to do so!
"A picture says a thousand words..."
Since being posted to the social media platform yesterday, Bowers' post has been shared more than 33,000 times as of this writing.
In response to the toilet paper shortage, national food aid charity Foodbank Australia took to their Facebook page to reveal their concerns over those in need being left without basic daily essentials. In the post, they wrote:
"Let's all please remember there are special groups of people in our community who do not have the ability to shop on a regular basis, and when they do, they really need the essentials, such as toilet paper, tissues and basic pain relief to be readily available.
"In the past few days we've seen images of empty shelves across the nation, yet our most vulnerable community members - pensioners, residents in retirement homes and people with disabilities, are turning up to their local shops on their weekly shopping trip, only to face bare shelves and head home [empty-handed].
"Our aging parents, our grandparents, our elderly neighbors and the vulnerable, struggle to duck to the shops when they run out of items. [Traveling] from suburb to suburb looking for essentials is out of the question along with online shopping.
"By all means, be prepared and stock up on two weeks worth of essentials, but please ask, do you really three or [six months'] worth of products?
"We will all get through this with a sensible and caring attitude. Be kind to one another."
Meanwhile, one Australian woman has been left with TOO MUCH toilet paper, after accidentally ordering $3260 AUD ($2165 USD) worth of loo roll to her home.
