Un-Homed But Not Unhinged: Trying to Stay Clean
I suppose I should count myself lucky.
Growing up I didn鈥檛 have to share a bathroom with my older sisters. I had my own small bathroom attached to my room whereas the three of them had to compete for makeup and hair drying space on a constant basis. Since they were all about the same age (two were foster sisters) that was a lot of date prep to juggle at times.
But that鈥檚 not exactly the case anymore. Now I share my shower time with the whole city and half the visitors to the island. Ok, maybe not the whole city since they have homes to return to. And maybe not half the visitors, since they already have hotel room showers. Ahhhh, hot hotel showers whenever you needed one鈥 fond memories for me. But the point is that it can get crazy down there and all you want is to take a shower and be done with it. It can be a little annoying at times.
Actually it鈥檚 not the shower that is so overcrowded at times; it鈥檚 the cars parking around Kapiolani Park and the Natatorium on the weekends. Now that the weather is getting good even if I go pretty early in the morning there鈥檚 about 12,000 cars controlling a few hundred spaces. Plus there鈥檚 another 1,000 circling cars hoping that if they just drive slow enough they鈥檒l magically get one of the spaces to materialize just as they arrive. You know all the people behind them are cursing both the slow speed as well as the fact they鈥檙e second or third in line with the same strategy. So then I can鈥檛 even get into the area to get a shower much less park my closet.
Of course the public shower isn鈥檛 entirely devoid of interesting and humorous moments. Last week I was there soaping up after a quick swim and another guy came in. He parked his bicycle in the corner, took off his sneakers and shirt and walked into the shower area with his jeans on.
At first I was puzzled as he didn鈥檛 strike me as someone needing extra modesty. He had a pretty great physique and his posture wasn鈥檛 of someone you鈥檇 characterize as shy. I watched out of the corner of my eye, careful to not get shampoo in it, as he chose a shower head and then seemed to just be misting his face. OK, so maybe he was just hot and cooling off鈥 Nope! He proceeded to get fully under the stream of water and get fully doused.
Then to my astonishment he started to soap up his jeans! Genius and expedient!! Why not wash your clothes right on your body? The drying off may be a bit uncomfortable but then again I suppose it saves them from becoming wrinkled. Why hadn鈥檛 I thought of that one? I guess necessity is the mother of all invention.
In any case, I suppose I have to resign myself to figuring on another rhythm during the weekends. Or at least not drive down there only to be re-buffed and end up sink-showering in my office. I should just ride the old bicycle I had salvaged long ago and revived recently. Though don鈥檛 expect to see me riding down there in dry jeans and leaving in wet ones. I鈥檒l leave that to the other inventive un-homed guy.
Previous posts in this series:
- Pity or Compassion
- Best Friends Forever鈥 or For a While
- Going with the Flow
- Milestones
- Anger Paralysis
- Timing Is Everything
- It’s All Relative
- Riding Heartbreak
- The Courage Needed
- Bartering Along
- Getting Swept Away鈥 Almost
- Neglect
- Small Measures of Success
- The Interior Life
- I Miss My Bed
- My Closet Has a Flat Tire
- Hopes and Dreams
- Homeless Are People, Too
- Full Monty or Not?
- Back Seat Office
- Staying Connected
- Those Small Indignities
- Putting Your Life in Storage
- One Step Forward, One Step Back
- Exciting New Career Opportunities
- End of the Day
- Solutions Wanted
- When to Hold On, Let Go?
- Location, location, location
- Range of Motion
- Food More Than Sustenance
- Figuring It All Out Someday
- Solitude
- The Good, The Bad
- From The Heart
- Does Anyone Really See Me?
- Keeping Perspective
- Showers at the Natatorium
- Achieving Homelessness
