For me, it may be that the toilet paper roll needs to have the open end away from the wall. I don’t want to reach under the roll to take a piece! That’s ludicrous!
That or my recent addiction to correcting people when they use “less” when they should use “fewer”
I don’t pronounce those A sounds any differently, I didn’t realize that was your point. Maybe there’s a bit of a glide in pan, but both have æ sounds.