My God! THEY'RE HANGING THE TOILET TISSUE THE WRONG WAY!!

Friends,

I've always said, "there is a right way and wrong way to do everything." 

Did you know there was a "wrong way" to hang toilet tissue?  Maybe you never gave it much thought. 

I was in the "never gave it much thought" camp until around the Fall of '97 when I found myself "couch-surfing" at a friends house in Raleigh, NC, while I was between assignments with the Marine Corps. 

One afternoon, I used the last little bit of toilet tissue and slapped a new roll in the holder.  Later that day, my friend, Joe S., returned from work, came out of the bathroom, and asked me if I changed the roll of toilet tissue.  Of course, I responded that I had, in an effort to be a good house guest.  He responded, "well, you put it in backwards."

I was thinking to myself, "what the hell is he talking about?".  Backwards?  I didn't recall seeing any instructions or suggested ways of mounting the roll of toilet tissue on the holder.

Backwards?  Really?

So, after a shot of bourbon (it was happy hour and I love bourbon), we grabbed beers and headed into the bathroom to explore this further.

Joe demonstrated that when the roll is backwards, it hangs close to the wall making more difficult to grab.  It also seemed to have a bit of rolling resistance.  We reversed the direction of the roll and it was like night and day.  The tissue hung out in front of the roll and it was very easy to grab.  Additionally, it seems easier to pull out the required number of squares.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well, there seems to be no standard operating procedure (SOP) with the cleaning crews with regards to how toilet tissue is hung in the rest rooms.  This is a little frustrating and I find myself putting rolls of toilet tissue in the right direction on a routine basis.  I'm not sure what kind of organization is in charge of this, but they are not doing a very good job.

For some, you may have long ago discovered the "right way" to hang toilet tissue.  For those of you in the "never gave it much thought" camp, give it a try.  Go ahead, right now.  Do a little experiment in your home and I think you will agree...there is a right way and a wrong way to do everything.

Until next week,
Michael