Cleanup Aisle Five


"You gonna give me that toilet paper, or I'll cut you," the old man yelled out.

He was old, and life had made him jaded. He survived the World War II rations and coupon books. He thought the fact that people were trying to take all the toilet paper was ridiculous. The government rations gasoline, meat, vegetables and even sweets, but toilet paper. He had enough of these large crowds with the pushing and shoving, he was ready to pull out his pocket knife.

"That's really unnecessary and you're high risk because you're old. You should be inside," a young woman tried to guide him away.

She was younger, some would say middle aged. She had never been through anything like this before, but she was ready to shine. This was her generations moment to show what they were made of. After all, they were the first latchkey kids. They never stop telling people that, and they lived through the crack era. They knew what it took to be inside.

"This is ridiculous," the young man said, rolling past the TP aisle with a cart full of TV dinners, soap and hand sanitizer.

He was young, but old. The generation that was constantly overlooked. He was old enough to have a family, and student loans. This generation had been at war their entire lives. They survived 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, a recession in 2008, were saddled with over a trilion dollars in student debt, and this didn't really phase them. Would they go out drinking this weekend? No, but they weren't going to hoard toilet paper either. Besides, this generation is poor, they know dollar stores always have toilet paper because people who can afford to buy 200 rolls, don't shop at the dollar store.

"Boomer Remover," a teenage boy starts to whisper. It echos through the crowd as other teens join in.

They were young, they really didn't know any better. They weren't old enough to remember 9/11 or any recessions, they didn't have any world changing wars to fight. They were just excited to have an extended spring break.