The Toilet Paper Stand-Off: How One Roommate Ended the Great Empty Roll Saga
Picture this: you shuffle into the bathroom, bleary-eyed, only to find the toilet paper roll reduced to a lonely, barren cardboard tube. Again. Your roommate, gifted with the supernatural ability to ignore the obvious, has struck. You’ve tried asking, joking, sticky notes—even passive-aggressive sighs echoing down the hall. But nothing cracks the code.
This is the everyday battle many of us have fought as roommates, partners, or even family. But thanks to one ingenious Redditor, it’s a war that can be won—with a little creativity, a dash of pettiness, and, apparently, an over-the-door organizer.
The Ingenious Solution: Making Toilet Paper Unmissable
Reddit user u/josephmethew1988 shared their innovative approach on r/PettyRevenge, gathering thousands of upvotes and sparking a tidal wave of commiseration (and laughter) from fellow sufferers. After repeated failed attempts to get their roommate to simply replace the toilet paper roll, they decided, “Why argue when you can engineer a solution?”
The secret weapon: a cheap, over-the-door hanging organizer. The top pocket, boldly labeled TOILET PAPER, hung at eye level on the bathroom door. Every other pocket was filled with random bathroom odds and ends—wipes, soap, trash bags—to make the setup look routine. But the star of the show was the toilet paper pocket, stocked with backup rolls and impossible to miss.
Here’s the kicker: all backup rolls were removed from their secret bathroom hiding spots. No more rolls under the sink, on the windowsill, or stashed in a cabinet. If the roll ran out, the only way to reload was to open the door and come face-to-face with the “TOILET PAPER” pocket, now glaringly obvious.
The result? After the first awkward encounter (accompanied by muttered curses), the roommate started replacing the roll. The embarrassment of ignoring the now-unmissable pocket was apparently too much to bear. And when the organizer’s TP supply ran low, the roommate even restocked it—proof that sometimes, you just need to make the solution idiot-proof (and maybe a bit shame-inducing).
The Relatable Rage: "Why Is This So Hard?"
If there’s one thing Reddit proved, it’s that this struggle is practically universal. Commenters poured in with tales of TP woes, ranging from the hilarious to the hair-pulling.
As u/thisismyburnerac joked, “If the roll was getting low, I’d just take it off the holder and leave them with none. They’ll figure out how to replace the roll real quick.” Others, like u/Sirix_8472, shared stories of strategic TP hoarding and roommate investigations worthy of a detective novel—complete with receipts, accusations, and even the horror of discovering a housemate was hoarding one-ply office TP like a squirrel.
The theme? It’s not just about toilet paper. It’s about grown adults refusing to do the bare minimum in shared living spaces. As u/Fair_Bar_2303 lamented, even a household sign reading “Changing the toilet paper roll does not cause brain damage” couldn’t crack the code.
Some took the nuclear option: hiding all TP and only bringing in a roll when nature called. “My roommates and I decided we would stop replacing the roll and bring our own into the bathroom when we needed it,” wrote u/SNS989. “The one dude who never replaced the roll yelled and swore at us every time he made the waddle of shame with his pants down around his ankles.” Justice, it seems, is sometimes poetic…and pantsless.
Community Strategies: From Petty to Practical
So what’s the best way to solve the Great Toilet Paper Stand-Off? The comments offered a spectrum:
- Go nuclear: Carry your own roll. Lock up your stash. Let the offender suffer.
- Shame them into action: Make the solution so obvious that not participating becomes embarrassing—like the over-the-door organizer.
- Divide and conquer: Assign each roommate their own bathroom, supplies, and responsibilities. As u/laDDDy42 revealed, “He has run himself out so many times. Not my problem dude. When you are down to your last roll maybe go buy more.”
- Upgrade the hardware: Some suggested swapping the dreaded spring-loaded holder for something easier, like a flexible pivot TP holder. As u/Old-Mention9632 said, “No playing with those obnoxious spring loaded bars.”
- Appeal to relationships: Several commented that nothing motivates a lazy roommate like the threat of embarrassment in front of a girlfriend or boyfriend. As u/secretrebel shared, a roommate’s new girlfriend quickly noticed who actually bought the toilet paper—and it was a dealbreaker.
Of course, some pointed out the absurdity of the whole thing. As u/kangourou_mutant put it, “Fresh veggies turn bad, but TP doesn’t—you don’t have to manage its freshness, it’s not cheaper to buy small packs, so just buy a lot and never run out!” Simple advice, yet so hard for some to follow.
The Final Roll: Why These Little Battles Matter
Is it petty to engineer a solution to something so trivial? Maybe. But, as this thread proves, it’s also a tiny act of self-respect—and sometimes, the only way to preserve household sanity. The toilet paper saga isn’t really about the paper; it’s about consideration, teamwork, and the unspoken social contract of sharing a home.
So next time you find yourself staring at an empty roll, remember: you’re not alone. There’s a whole army of us out here, waging the same war, armed with organizers, locked boxes, and just enough pettiness to get the job done.
Have you fought the Great Toilet Paper Battle? What tactics have you tried? Share your stories (and inventions) below—because in the game of rolls, we’re all in this together.
Original Reddit Post: Roommate kept forgetting to replace the toilet paper, so I made it impossible to miss