As most know already: toilet paper is a hot commodity. So much so that fights have actually broken out across the world over stuff that was invented in 1857. (… Like there was a time we didn’t have it, and we got by, folks.)
While to most people this seems like an overreaction, mother Jeni Bonell recently posted to Facebook explaining why exactly she needs to bulk up on toilet paper and why no one should judge her.
Bonell has made headlines in the past for having quite the large family — she is a mother to 16 kids to be exact.
On her March 6 Facebook, she did not mince words and had a strong message for a woman who gave her a disdainful look while she stocked up at the store.
“OH NO YOU DON’T!!!!!” wrote Bonell. “No lady, you don’t get to stand behind me in the checkout line in the grocery store. With your voice dripping sarcasm and your crinkled brow.”
The woman who gave her disapproval was not quiet about her disdain.
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In a loud voice and a questionable tone, she said aloud:
“Welllll, there goes ALLLLLLL the toilet paper now …” the woman said. “Hmmmmpffff.”
Bonell in response wrote her response in the post.
“Ummm, no it doesn’t,” the mom wrote in her post. “And I will not apologize for buying toilet paper for my family which is undoubtedly bigger than yours.”
The mom also added how she was not about to let a stranger make her feel guilty about taking care of her family.
“I will not let you make me feel guilty about it one little bit,” she went on. “Perhaps taking a deep breath would help. Or try smiling,” she added.
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Bonell says the lack of kindness is overwhelming.
“That’s a worldwide lack of good manners with a symptom of unkindness that seems to accompany it,” Bonell wrote.
When speaking with CafeMom, the momma of 16 shares that her post was a call to action.
Bonell believes “we all have the right to go into a grocery store and buy what we need without people giving you filthy looks and making snide comments.”
Even still, she does understand how many people are just nervous and acting out of fear.
“Folks need to stay calm, be reasonably prepared, but also think of others and what they might need,” she goes on.
Bonnell adds how she is not the only one who’s experienced public shaming for taking care of her family.
She reveals she was “surprised” to learn how others have had similar experiences.
While she did not expect her post to garner criticism from strangers over the fact that she even has a big family.
“There’s been lots of support of the post, but a lot of criticism towards our family too just over how many children we have,” she says. “But children are blessings and we are very abundantly blessed.”
And while it is expected that tensions are high while we are still learning more and more about the coronavirus. But in this circumstance, Bonell’s message rings true and clear: life is easier when we spread kindness, not fear and disdain.
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