Crisis Averted

I never really thought about how many items there are in our house that we consider to be necessities. Things that would make our grandmothers smack us upside the head for being extravagant and wasteful. For instance, my grandmother(my mother's mom) did not have an electric dryer; she hung laundry out in the backyard to dry. Things still got dried, but no electricity was used. A dryer was considered wasteful. My great grandmother, Elizabeth Irebeen Benz, did not have indoor plumbing. She had an outhouse. I used to visit her when I was a child, but my butt was way too small for the outhouse. So I had a little pot in the closet for my visits*. I literally DID have a pot to piss in, at least once in my life!

Another item that I consider a necessity is a coffeemaker. My husband believes that his smart phone is vital to his well-being. We all have our "can't live without" items. But let's be more realistic. A necessity is something that we really can't live without. Life becomes a horrid cesspool of despair and desolation without that item. I think that still qualifies the coffeemaker.

And toilet paper. Toilet paper is a necessity. Even if I no longer have running water and have to find a place outside to go, I must have toilet paper. I am not the only one.

While I am sitting at the kitchen table this morning sipping my coffee and reading the paper, I can hear my husband stomping around upstairs.

Then I hear my name being yelled.

"WHERE'S THE TOILET PAPER????" This is said in a panicked voice.

In the closet in the bathroom!" I yell back. "I just bought some."

Wait--Did I? Or did I just imagine that I did? Sometimes, all those visits to the grocery store meld into one gawdawfully long, tedious, shopping trip. Ack! What if there's NO toilet paper in the house??!!

I started to get nervous.

"Oh. Here it is," came the voice from above. "I got scared."

Crisis averted. For both of us.

*True story.