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Communal Shower
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Communal Shower
Every morning, when I step outside my camper, I hold my breath wondering what I will find in the bathhouse. Will the showers be clean? Will they be private? Will I have the luxury of hot water? Will they cost me money? Some places don’t even have showers so I’ve learned to be grateful for any kind of shower.
I usually shower with some kind of critter. I’ve just gotten used to it. The most frightening was the tiny mouse. I’m not sure which of us was scared more but I chased him (or her) out. The most annoying are the mosquitoes. Sometimes, I stumble in the shower, half-asleep, only to be swarmed by giant mosquitoes who have been waiting all night for a feast. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything I can do about mosquitoes except shower quickly and submerge as much of my body under the usually thin stream as possible. My approach to the tiny organisms that grow mold is to wear water shoes and do my best not to touch the shower curtain. Ants, I usually ignore. I do not tolerate roaches or spiders. If I can reach them, they die and are disposed of before I step in the shower. I wouldn’t tolerate wasps either if I had a choice but I don’t want to make them mad.
My most recent communal shower experience was with Daddy Longlegs. If you don’t know what a Daddy Longlegs is, your childhood was incomplete. There are actually two types of critters called Daddy Longlegs. One is a spider and one isn’t but they both look like spiders to me. They both have eight very long legs and are harmless to humans. An urban myth floats around that the Daddy Longlegs that is actually a spider is deadly but it’s fangs are too small to bite humans. According to my sources, there is no proof to that rumor. At any rate, since I spent many hours of my childhood playing with Daddy Longlegs, I didn’t really mind sharing my shower.
There was a problem, however. It was a very small shower stall and there were many Daddy Longlegs – nine to be exact. These particular Daddy Longlegs were of the spider variety. Uneasily, I remembered the urban myth and wondered if they were more dangerous if they teamed up. As I stepped into the shower and counted my showermates, I struggled with what to do.
While I’m not afraid of these creatures, I have to admit that the sheer number of them was daunting. Also, I didn’t want to hurt them and I couldn’t remember how they reacted to water. I briefly considered catching them and releasing them outside but some of them were higher than I could reach. Besides, I haven’t held them in years and it was way too early in the morning to psyche myself for such an experience. I really needed the shower so I decided we’d share and I’d be careful.
It was the quickest shower I’ve ever taken. I was astounded at the amount of affection I had for my childhood playmates. I fretted the entire time, afraid I would hurt one of them or the water would send them down the drain. I gasped as a splash washed two of them from the wall. Did they go down the drain? I stepped out of the shower, counted, and breathed a sigh of relief. All nine Daddy Longlegs survived and I was clean.
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