"Out of Stock" signs are seen inside a Waitrose supermarket on March 19, 2020, in Southampton, United Kingdom. After spates of "panic buying" cleared supermarket shelves of items like toilet paper and cleaning products, stores across the UK have introduced limits on purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, toilet paper has become a hot commodity.
Americans began stocking up on toilet paper and other items such as food and water after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. And others around the world did much the same.
At first, people were baffled by why toilet paper had become the popular kid at the pandemic dance, but now that more states are issuing stay-at-home orders, it’s perhaps becoming a little more clear.
Here’s how some folks are rolling with the shortage.
Open-mouthed surprise
A Target customer reacts to empty toilet paper and paper towel shelves at a Target store on March 13, 2020, in San Rafael, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
‘My precious’
Graffiti showing Gollum from “Lord of the Rings,” holding a roll of toilet paper with note, “My precious,” on March 23, 2020, in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
Cranking up production
A view shows a toilet paper production line at the Syassky Pulp & Paper Mill, as the company increases production due to high demand amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, in the town of Syasstroy in Russia’s Leningrad region on March 25, 2020. (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
Toilet paper ‘backpacks’
Fans dressed in HAZMAT suits with toilet paper “backpacks” referencing the shortages during the current COVID-19 crisis at BC Place stadium March 08, 2020, in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Trevor Hagan/Getty Images)
One free per family
A man offers toilet paper and paper towels for free (one roll per family) from the back of his car in Los Angeles on March 24, 2020. (Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Rolling out cakes
Bakery owner Tim Kortuem prepares toilet paper-shaped cakes is displayed at the bakery Schuerener Backparadies in Dortmund, western Germany, on March 26, 2020, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The bakery of owner Tim Kortuem sells toilet paper cakes, which are spread with cream and wrapped in fondant. The sweet toilet paper rolls have become a “bestseller” during the coronavirus crisis. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)
Buy the car and get a roll
A car for sale parked near the River Dee at West Kirby offering free toilet paper to whoever buys it on the Wirral on March 23, 2020, in West Kirkby, United Kingdom. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Free roll with order
A sign in the window of The Beach Cafe on Second Avenue offering one free roll of toilet paper plus two pairs of sanitizer gloves with every outgoing order as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States on March 24, 2020, in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
Lap dances
A sign at Little Darlings Las Vegas strip club advertises “coronavirus-free lap dances,” featuring an image of a model holding a surgical mask and a roll of toilet paper, on March 14, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Street sales
A vendor sells toilet paper on the streets in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, on March 31, 2020, on the second day of a lockdown directed by Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa to curb the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by ZINYANGE AUNTONY/AFP via Getty Images)
Score!
A woman leaves a store after buying supplies, including toilet paper, in Los Angeles, California on Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)
