How do I know this? One way is because we’ve caught people. The other way is because I’ve been in facility management for almost 20 years and I’ve repeatedly seen the following situation.
Here’s what happens. On Sunday night a cleaner stocks a small restroom with 20 rolls of toilet paper, which is enough supply to last for two weeks given the occupancy and foot traffic. The cleaner places two rolls in each of the three toilet paper dispensers and 14 rolls in the restroom cabinet.
On Tuesday afternoon your co-worker visits the restroom and discovers that there’s no toilet paper in the restroom. They are angry, which is understandable considering the vulnerable circumstances they find themselves in! It’s confusing for everyone involved. You’re confused because you’re paying someone to clean and stock the restrooms and yet there’s no toilet paper. The janitorial company is confused because they are paying someone to stock the restrooms and yet there’s no toilet paper. And the cleaner is the MOST confused because he personally placed twenty rolls in the restroom just two days ago. So what happened?
Unfortunately, the answer is toilet paper theft.
I know what you’re thinking. “There’s no way any of my co-workers (or church visitors) would ever do that.” Unfortunately, that’s probably not accurate. I’m not sure exactly why this happens, but I suspect that there’s some group of people out there that don’t consider taking toilet paper to be theft. Maybe they consider it the same as accidentally walking out of the office with a pen that belongs to their employer? It’s also possible that there are just more kleptomaniacs in the world than I realized? Whatever the reason, the result is the same. People steal toilet paper and this problem impacts you!
The point of this article is simple. It’s to help you solve the mystery of the missing toilet paper. If you were wondering where your toilet is going or how your teammates are using so much of it, hopefully this article will help you understand what might really be happening.
And the solution is simple…lock up your toilet paper. That might mean using dispensers with locks and/or locking it away in cabinets.
