In consideration of friends down under
Regarding bathroom tissue, my wife and I are hard asses.
We buy economical Scott tissue in bulk from Costco. Each roll in the bulk pack is individually packaged in a somewhat protective paper wrapper. Recently when a roll is down to just the right amount of tissue, it is saved for later and wrapped with the cover from the next roll. I try to save enough tissue for two uses.
Voila... The Ragbrai Roll
I'm sorry mate
The first night of Ragbrai 2013 we camped near a facility that our well-spoken team driver described as equipped with a porcelain toilet. All good but the porcelain toilet proved popular. By the next morning it was out of bathroom tissue.
No problem. I stumbled back to camp and returned with the one partial roll of tissue that was packed for emergencies. I was fine but a young man from Australia was next in line - empty-handed. He arrived here expecting that our restrooms would be fully equipped throughout the ride.
Recognizing that I was carrying tissue away from the throne, he asked to acquire some. Here is the sad part of the story. I only had the one partial roll for the entire week, and so far 100% of toilets in overnight towns were understocked. Not to my credit, I hesitated for a moment before saying yes and offering him the roll. My new acquaintance felt awkward and tried to back out of the request. In end he took a completely insufficient amount of bathroom tissue and felt bad about asking. I felt bad that he did not take more tissue.
Take A Penny Leave A Penny
This year's plan is to pack multiple short rolls and carry one or two on the bike each day. If I need emergency bathroom tissue, somebody behind me needs it too. I intend to unwrap the short roll, use my portion and leave the rest for the next person.
This supply took 1 to 2 months to build up.
