During the hoarding frenzy that came with the Covid pandemic, shoppers cleared shelves of toilet paper. Heard of one hoarder who was paying for favors with toilet paper rolls instead of coins.
Some have expressed surprise at hoarded toilet paper being favored over coined money, but not this ‘haole.’
For you who never enjoyed a blessed year in our 50th state, as this visiting professor did in the 1970s, I borrow a definition from the internet: “Among Hawaiian
I was told I was a ‘dumb haole’ if I didn’t stock up on toilet paper when the initial seasonal boatload arrived at the Honolulu Harbor. Might be a while before a second load arrived—locals still remembered when only one toilet-paper boatload arrived.
Locals also fear a shortage of imported Christmas Trees, but that’s another story to tell.
In Austin Texas, some high school cheerleaders often draped toilet paper in front of a star athlete’s house. I remember that’s how some cheerleaders honored one of my athletic grandsons. Believe me, those cheerleaders would have been prosecuted for such a toilet paper waste in Hawaii.
In Hawaii, toilet paper is more valued. This old skipper who steered near the stern of our sailboat might even coin an alternative definition ‘The Coin of the Helm.’ But I won’t.
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
