You've had to have had your head in the sand if you haven't heard of people hoarding toilet paper in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. Stores are selling out as soon as a shipment comes in.
It appears that the panic is someone will be quarantined for weeks or months without any toilet paper. We guess we can understand that to a degree, but what would be worse is to be quarantined for a month or so with no working toilet.
Flomaton Utilities Superintendent Shaun Moye and Jay's Operations Manager Eric Seib are begging people not to flush anything down the toilet other than what comes out of your body or toilet paper.
That includes wipes, paper towels and of course old socks and cut-up T-shirts.
The last thing we need right now is for the sewer system to back up because foreign objects clog up the sewer lines or damage the grinder pumps.
Moye said he's already heard horror stories in other parts of the country where sewer systems have malfunctioned because people are flushing other items down the toilet.
It's called 'toilet' paper for a reason. That paper is designed to degenerate quickly once it hits water. It's designed to go through grinder pumps without any problems.
There's a reason we use paper towels to clean up spills instead of using toilet paper because the paper towels hold together to gather the liquid.
We hear a lot about everybody working together through social distancing to prevent the spread of the virus. We need to take that same precaution and not flush anything but toilet paper down the toilet.
You may think it's OK, but when your selfish actions clog up a line and backs up toilets throughout your neighborhood it has a different smell to it.
