Life Lesson Number 16: It’s smart to be Prepared.
The past several years have taught us all a big lesson. We should always be prepared. Once upon a time, I was a Girl Scout. I didn’t last long in that illustrious organization. I did manage to earn a few badges before I dropped out. I remember the motto being “Be prepared.” I remember them being a little vague about the event we should be prepared for, but I think an event like COVID would top the list. I don’t know about the rest of you, but it pretty much snuck up on me. It’s smart to be prepared.
I heard talk in the campus police office where I worked. The guy from the universities Emergency Management Department stopped by at least once a day starting in October, and they talked about how bad things might get. Reports from China didn’t look good. When the disease moved to Italy, it was only a matter of time before he reached America’s shores.
It is Smart to be Prepared
The first time Rooster and I realized COVID would become a problem occurred when he stopped by the store after work and discovered a run on toilet paper. My husband called my office phone. I still had two hours to go before I could leave the university. “Things are getting crazy out here. I reached for the last roll of toilet paper, and some woman grabbed it from me.”
Did you grab it back,” I asked.
“Are you kidding? You should have seen the look on her face. The bad thing is I’ve been to two other stores, and the shelves are empty. What are we going to do? We’re down to our last roll.” We hadn’t found the answer when we hung up the phone.
After I got off work, we earnestly searched for toilet paper. We drove from store to store but couldn’t find a single roll. Rooster got the idea of driving to a small town 15 miles away with a population of two hundred. They had enough rolls of the precious commodity to supply enough confidence in us that we could wait until the stores in our town stocked their shelves again.
It is Smart to be Prepared
I had forgotten my Girl Scout training and allowed my guard down. Rooster is determined we will never be caught with our pants down again. He buys at least two large bags of toilet paper every time we visit the store. If a killer virus ever strikes again, we will be prepared with over a hundred rolls of toilet paper hidden in an upstairs closet. There is no fool like an old fool.
Who is Molly Shea?
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.
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I was teaching when that all went down and I only found rolls of ‘boat toilet paper’ left and not the best. a family brought me a 6-pack of tp from wherever their secret source was the very next day )