A perpetual shortage of office supplies (story)

One of my guilty pleasures is buying Scotch tape in bulk. I grew up with 2 siblings and 2 parents who are very crafty/handy. As a result, there was always a shortage of office supplies in the house, like tape, or Sharpies, or rubber bands, mechanical pencils, or nice pens. What happens when your room runs out of stuff is you start to pilfer from the neighboring rooms, like dad's office, or older sister's room, or re-pilfering something pilfered from you in little sister's room. Then there is the humorous occurrence (and recurrence) whereby you go to hunt tape or white copy paper from dad's office, but there simply is no tape or copy paper there, just a naked tape roll or a naked printer. Or you're trying to steal a rubber band while packing for your trip, but the only rubber bands left in dad's office are the ones that have dried and biodegrade in your hand as soon as you use them.

Okay, so why not just go to the local Staples in the neighborhood? Well, because the prices for consumer quantities of office supplies are super expensive, and we have a family business so dad can just bring home the office supplies bought in bulk. Except when you're harried with a family business, bringing home office supplies is more or less the last thing on your mind. Or if it's bunch of Five Star / Mead notebooks for school, you really should be waiting for the back to school sale at Target. So you can buy a tiny spare something from the Staples, but only when you're really desperate, and you'll feel guilty about it. And all the while, you're waiting for your parents to bring home the office supplies that never come.

The other thing, too, is that I hold these truths to be self evident that not all tapes are created equal. Scotch tape is literally so much nicer than an off-brand. Same goes with masking tape and packaging tape. Have you ever been late to an occasion and in a hurry to tape something, only for the tape to commit active sabotage against you? Flimsy, breaks easy, doesn't rip right, peel it but adhesive comes out or sticks to your hands, the absolute worst is when the "start" of the tape says screw you and sticks back to the tape roll, and then you're left there like a doofus feeling the tape in circles trying to find the start again. And if you just trimmed your nails, good luck picking it back open. Lame tape just causes you so much pain.

Maybe a year ago I pulled the trigger and bought a bulk amount of Scotch tape off of Amazon. Yes, it felt great. Then, like humanitarian aid relief or the Easter bunny, I airdropped Scotch tape in corners all over the house. I even bought 3 of those super solid black tape holders you find in teachers' classrooms. What a bougie purchase. For a few sweet moments, I will be able to enjoy Scotch tape abundance in the house. Because that stuff's gonna get eaten up super fast. I made sure to keep a secret cache of remaining tape rolls in my room.

I joke with my mom and tell her, "I know I've made it in life when one day I manage to live in a house with infinite office supplies."

There's also a fun nostalgic component to living with a scarcity of office supplies. Because when you were off at college, whoever still at home was likely pilfering your desk and rearranging the distribution of resources. And when they're away, it's your turn to cannibalize their desk.