(Excerpted from my latest article in Brainz Magazine.)
While recently speaking to a group, I posed a seemingly innocent question that triggered an almost Pavlovian response of hands shooting up in the air with spirited conviction: How many of you have strong opinions about which way the toilet paper roll falls? It turns out that people (you?) have big, bold, borderline belligerent feelings about this subject.
For decades, households and workplaces alike have been divided into two camps: "Over" (a.k.a. the "civilized" folk) and "Under" (the renegades). It's a debate as old as indoor plumbing yet as divisive as the Oxford comma.
I, too, once had a staunch opinion on the matter. My roll had to fall under, and I would silently judge anyone whose rolls dared to fall over. But then came a year of big life changes: new career complexities, a whirlwind of family events, and, most significantly, hiring a nanny. This wonderful nanny shared her talents, her warmth, and gasp her preference for the over roll. It was a clash of titans until it wasn't. One day, I just decided: This is not the hill I'm dying on. That moment of surrender was oddly freeing.
If you're still entrenched in the TP wars, here are three reasons to wave your white (or two-ply) flag and how letting go of this seemingly small issue can also free up some time and energy at work. Continue reading here...
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