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Since the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States in early March, people have been doing everything they can to stay prepared for the worst, but have they been doing too much?

Grocery stores during these uncertain times have been thriving, but at the same time struggling to keep their customers satisfied. Since the beginning of the pandemic, most people have been out of work and simply stuck at home with nowhere to go. Because everyone has become a homebody, there has been a huge spike in the items being purchased from stores in bulk.

Since the pandemic began, gas stations, grocery stores, and just about anything that has remained open during this time has struggled to keep toilet paper in stock.

The toilet paper shortage of 2020 has caused an impact on all households. It has gotten so outrageous that there have been social media “challenges” and memes created to make fun of but also bring awareness to the fact that people are going crazy over their toilet paper.

One example: the TikTok toilet paper “level up challenge.” People have so much toilet paper stocked up they are challenging their friends and peers to build walls of toilet paper and hurdle the walls until they cannot jump any higher.

But for every lighthearted TikTok, there is a serious story about the TP tug-of-war. Some people are even getting physical over the shortage.

A man in western Iowa was standing in line at his hometown Dollar General when another man standing behind him began giving him grief about his toilet paper purchase. The heckler wasn’t upset about the type of toilet paper the man was buying but rather the amount being purchased.

The feud over toilet paper ended in a call to the local police department when the TP-purchaser pulled out a weapon in self-defense.

“In the end, neither person was injured, but the initial aggressor was charged this week with disorderly conduct,” read the report the Atlantic Iowa Police blotter.

There have been multiple arrests since the beginning of the pandemic for people stealing toilet paper from hotels, gas stations, stores and practically anywhere you can find a roll of TP.

Toilet paper is not the only thing people have been hoarding and fighting over since the beginning of the pandemic. Bottled water, disinfecting items, non-perishable food items, laundry detergent, paper towels and ramen noodles have been out of stock for many stores. It also seems as though everyone is stocking up on their alcohol. People are ultimately preparing for the closest thing we have had to an apocalypse.

Many grocery stores are providing an online shopping option and or separate store hours for those who are at a higher risk for contracting the virus (expecting mothers and the elderly). But none of these new policies are doing anything to keep stores from running low on practically any items needed for everyday use.