Usually it’s the little triangle folded into the end of the toilet paper. But sometimes it’s a flower, a fan, a boat, or some other creation made out of the roll.
I get the purpose of the toilet paper fold. The sink is clean, the towels are fresh, the fixtures have been scrubbed, and the fold tells you someone was there and no one has used the toilet since.
But I don’t actually like the fold. Somebody had to touch the toilet paper to make it, and now I’m supposed to use that same paper where toilet paper gets used. I don’t even think of myself as a germophobe, but I really don’t want someone else’s hands on my toilet paper before I use it.
The flowers, boats and other toilet-paper origami, aka “toilegami,” make my head hurt even more. To make them, somebody has to stand there folding, pinching, shaping and arranging the toilet paper with their hands. The more elaborate the design, the more handling it took.
I know the intention is nice. Someone wants the bathroom to look cared for, and those little touches are meant to show that someone paid attention. But toilet paper is one of those things where I’d prefer a lot less attention.
The folded point tells me somebody touched it. The flower tells me they touched it a lot.
I just don’t think a plain roll needs to send me a message for me to be glad it’s there.
