TP FaceTime
Quid Pro Go
Bartering is one of the oldest concepts in the world. You’ve got something I need. I’ve got something you want. Let’s make a deal! But bartering for the bare necessities of life shouldn’t be a thing.
If you’re planning to visit China in the near future, you may want to throw a roll of Charmin in your luggage. That’s because some public restrooms now require users to watch a 30-second ad to receive a single 60 cm-long strip. I get the concept of gating content, but this white paper should always be freely accessible to the public.
This Black Mirror-like TP crackdown is China’s latest attempt to prevent toilet paper hoarding, thanks to a recent boom in national tourism. In 2017, facial recognition devices forced users to scan their faces before wiping their...well, you know. Then in 2019, dispensers were programmed to release short strips once every 10 minutes per user. What?!
I understand the need to keep an eye on inventory, but do we really want to adopt a culture where our bathroom breaks are monitored and monetized? At this rate, the next step will be surge pricing on toilet paper during peak bathroom hours — $5.99 if you had Chipotle for lunch.
Culture Club
A culture of mistrust at work can feel a lot like those Chinese bathroom dispensers: every move is monitored, and you can’t even get what you need without proving yourself first. From keystroke trackers to green-dot monitoring on Slack, corporate surveillance has turned “Are you working?” into “I’m watching you.” It’s not only exhausting, it chips away at morale and creativity.
But here’s the mindful twist: if you can’t change the culture, you can change how you show up in it. That doesn’t mean rolling over and accepting Big Brother as your boss — it means finding ways to protect your peace and preserve your integrity.
Separate the System from the Self — Remind yourself that surveillance says more about the culture than about your worth. It’s easy to internalize mistrust, but mindfulness helps you notice: this policy is about the organization, not me as a person.
Control What You Can, Release What You Can’t — You may not be able to change the tracker on your computer, but you can change your response. Take mindful pauses to reset when you feel resentment rising — even three breaths can soften that edge of frustration.
Reframe the Experience — Instead of focusing on the “watching,” look at how you can make your work shine. Use the systems as an accountability tool for yourself rather than a cage. A reframed mindset shifts the energy from restriction to opportunity.
Protect Your Psychological Space — Balance out the mistrustful signals at work with trust-filled spaces outside it. Journal, connect with colleagues you trust, or ground yourself in hobbies that affirm your agency. Think of it as building an “emotional firewall.”
Lead with Transparency — When you communicate clearly, meet deadlines, and own your work openly, you create micro-signals of trust that can soften the larger culture. Even in a mistrustful system, individual trust-building can carve out pockets of respect.
Anchor to Values, Not Metrics — When everything feels reduced to keystrokes and green dots, keep returning to why you do the work. Mindfully anchoring in purpose allows you to find meaning even in an environment that feels mechanical.
Surveillance may watch your hands, but mindfulness helps guard your head and heart. When you can’t change the system, sometimes the most mindful move is to change your relationship to it.
And let’s be real — if your workplace is going to watch you like a hawk, the least they could do is hand out loyalty points. “Congrats, you’ve been under surveillance for 1,000 hours this quarter — here’s a free roll of toilet paper!”
