Today at work I have been having trouble with toilet paper.

Just how much cheaper is it to buy toilet paper that has no cardboard tube in the middle?

Because of this decision by some faceless bureaucrat I was left in a precarious position with little hope of rescue

OK so the rolls of paper are larger than normal so less likely to run out but every now and then you WILL find your turn in the stall is "Transition Time".

The roll is dispensed from a container housing two such rolls. Only one can be accessed at an time. By pulling a lever the second roll is brought out over the dispensing hole. Only when the previous roll is completely used up can the next roll be advanced. And this is where the problem arises.

Not to be too graphic, I was in a position of some need this afternoon. I reached in to get a handful of paper. Except I found that there was no edge to grab. Occasionally, as there is no cardboard tube to control it, the interior of the role becomes heavily compressed and convoluted. As a result the end sheet was well and truly stuck down and broke off into little pieces. So there I was with my trousers down scrabbling at paper with my fingernails. The last of paper has to be removed before the next role can slide into place. The paper left was just too thick to pull out whole, so I just had to continue mining away with my nails until I could at last remove the last shreds and expose a nice shiny new roll.

It was just so desperate, so undignified!

As I left the stall I spied a spare roll sitting on the cistern and not inside the dispenser!