Long lines, price hikes, and empty supermarket shelves—these are just the most common scenarios in grocery stores today. Even before the community quarantine, the pandemic outbreak had already prompted the general public to panic-buy and hoard basic supplies such as canned goods, alcohol-based hand sanitizers, face masks, disinfectant spray, and toiletries.
And due to the shortage of supplies, some people in Japan resorted to stealing tissue paper from public restrooms. On Twitter, Mink (who works at a convenience store in Japan) shared how she was able to prevent thieves from pilfering their toilet rolls.
“Recently, the stock of toilet paper in the customer’s restroom where I work has been disappearing quickly, so I handmade a few designs as a little mood-altering interior decoration and stopped losing paper,” said Mink.
The twitter post went viral with more than 16,000 retweets and 28,000 comments, as of this writing.
最近、仕事場のお客様用トイレのペーパーのストックがどんどんなくなっちゃうの😢
なので、気分転換に手作りインテリアでちょっと模様替えしてみたらトイペなくならなくなったよ〜👌😊 pic.twitter.com/JvNjZXDmce
— みんく🐶 (@moemoekohu) March 4, 2020
In an article posted by SoraNews24, she put up scrolls that feature kanji characters. By using a translation app, Mink explained that the characters represent hunger, sadness, and disaster. She also added that a “monster” would hunt them and eat them up if they attempted to steal the store’s tissue rolls.
Speaking to POP!, the Japanese worker made it clear that she was just joking about it.
“I made a joke, so there’s no deep meaning.”
In the midst of a pandemic, it is important to stock up only on things you and your family need. So, our “friends and neighbors” won’t end up participating in illegal activities.
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