May Contain Peanuts

Shower?

While the thought of traveling is fresh in my mind, I'd like to bring up something that I'm sure most everyone who has spent a few nights away from their own home can relate to. No matter how well I know the person who is allowing me to crash at their house, there is a place in their home that makes me a bit uncomfortable. This place can be escaped, but with a simple question it appears and lets its presence be known. After you wake up and exchange pleasantries, it comes: "Do you need to take a shower?" Being the type that showers daily, I respond, 'of course', and it begins.

I walk in to the bathroom and recognize the pieces: the sink, the shower stall or tub, the towel bar with a (hopefully) fresh towel waiting for me. However, this isn't my bathroom, these aren't my hand soaps and these aren't my slightly damp floor mats. I'm sure my anxiety revolves around the fact that I am naked in a 3x5 ceramic rectangle with unfamiliar knobs and hygiene products all around, but I feel like there is a larger explanation on hand.

I think it stems more from the fact that these bathrooms are often the most personal of spaces that A) only one person occupies at a time (unless you share, giggity) and B) is covered all over in the sweat, skin cells and just overall being that goes along with the cleaning of the self everyday. I think that imposing my hygiene regiment on this space takes an extra bit of willpower. This anxiety is lessened when the host has a nice guest bath that is otherwise never used by the owner, but often enough the bathroom available is the one and only in the residence and you must adapt to the surroundings.

And most of the time, this one bathroom is clean as can be without anything that would make you feel uncomfortable, say like a sinktop full of lotions or a saucer sized chunk of mold on the back of the shower wall. These types of things would make any user feel odd, but even in their absence, there lingers this urge to get in and get out.

I noticed this feeling is not present when staying in hotel rooms, perhaps the reason being that the hotel room is technically yours since you're 'renting' it for the night. It's only when using that bathroom that is mainly utilized by the host that the discomfort sets in. You don't want to mess up things they have lying around or touch a hanging wash cloth because who knows what the last thing they touched was. It's like that old kids' game where everything you touch is lava and you need to get through wherever you are without anything touching you.

Now, with all these questions, it may seem that this tension is debilitating or may prevent the shower from being taken. This is not the case, the water flows, the water drains, all is well, showers need to be taken. However, it does make me realize the power of perceived personal space. We get used to and accustomed to our private rooms where we clean and sanitize ourselves. We each have our routines and methods that differ from everyone else and those private rooms may not easily accomodate the routines and methods of others. Thinking on this reminds me to respect others' private spaces but at the same time realize that their ritual space should in no way hinder me from a simple shower. It also reminds me to clean the shit out of my bathrooms before having guests over.