staple supply

[blwings]

City buildings may be deficient in adequate staple supplies, comfortable chairs and quality toilet paper, but never in fluorescent lights.

This is from The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead. I can’t guess what does staple supply mean here. Is it a supply of necessary goods?

 

[Yankee]

Yes.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can’t guess what does "staple supply" means here.

 

[blwings]

Yes.

Thank you for the reply. Then, can I assume comfortable chairs and quality toilet paper are examples of staple?

 

[probus]

Yankee may well be right about this but the passage is ambiguous. It could also mean staples that fasten papers together. More context would probably help resolve this.

 

[blwings]

Yankee may well be right about this but the passage is ambiguous. It could also mean staples that fasten papers together. More context would probably help resolve this.

You can see more text here.

 

[Tarheel]

If it refers to office buildings, they certainly lack many of the things a residence does.