Israeli culture summed up in a roll of toilet paper

An American came to Israel for a week to work in the Israeli branch of a High-tech company. After the end of the week, he asked curiously why everyone had toilet paper rolls on their desk.

My first few years in Israel, I must admit I refused to use toilet paper for anything but its intended use in the bathroom. I would superiorly buy expensive boxes of tissues. I thought the Israelis’ were uncivilized in their unashamed display of the toilet paper roll in public.

This last week, while bombs exploded outside my home, inside my home it was my nose that was exploding! I was suffering from a winter cold and sinuses, and I was using rolls and rolls of toilet paper to clean up my “explosions”.

After living in Israel for 20 years, I realize I was wrong. I now think that the toilet paper roll should be marketed as a new revolutionary design in tissues. Instead of piles of used up expensive tissues around the house, you just stuff the used toilet paper into the hole in the middle. When this is full, you can push it out into the trash.

When leaving the house I now make sure to take my toilet paper roll with me, and in fact I leave one in the car all the time in case of any sudden “explosions”.

added note:  this morning my kids woke up with runny noses.  They must have caught it from me.  I sent them all off to school with rolls of toilet paper in their backpacks. 🙂