My employer is kind enough to provide covered bicycle parking, lockers, and showers in my building. This helps allow me to ride my bicycle to work everyday, in spite of the terrible Atlanta traffic. There is only one shower, so I am even able to have the room to myself as I clean up after sweating in the southern city heat. When I go home, I grab my gear out of my locker, change, and head out. The whole process only takes a few minutes, and it is really a quite pleasant way to start and end my day. This is not to mention the fact that it fits nicely with my transportation planning ideals of keeping one less car on the road, polluting less, causing less congestion, getting more physical activity, etc.
Now that my blah blah pitch is out of the way, I want to get to my issue at hand. On the wall in the shower is a dispenser for shampoo. There is also a little soap dish, where there sits what appears to be a bar of Irish Spring. I use the public shampoo and a conditioner that I brought in to wash my hair. However, I have a dilemma about what to use to wash my body. I don't really like using shampoo for anything but my hair, so my alternatives are using the bar of soap or bringing in my own soap, either a bar or bottle of body wash.
My instinct is to say "there's a bar of soap in this shower, I should use it" just as I would use the bar of soap in my family shower. However, there is something a little weird about the fact that I don't know who else is using this soap. What if some dude with a gross disease on his back (or worse places) is rubbing it all over himself when I'm not there? What if it drops on the floor? Luckily, the shower is cleaned everyday, and I am usually the first person in each morning, but what if this wasn't the case? I know proper soap etiquette (lather my hands first and then rub them on my body) but what if someone else who uses the shower doesn't? Plus, even if everyone does use proper technique, does that really make the soap clean? I want to believe that the soap cleanses all bacteria and disease just by rubbing on it, like the genie of hygiene, but is that really true?
Now, I tend to be pretty lax about this stuff in general, which is the main reason I am questioning it. Today, in the middle of my shower, I began to wonder if it is actually not a public bar of soap at all, but rather a private bar, and someone has simply claimed squatters' rights on the soap dish. Am I violating this person's right to have his own bar of soap that no one else uses? That person would be an idiot if that was the case, but it is still possible. I wonder what my slightly hypochondriacal blogmate would think about this... or anyone else reading this.
Am I gross for using this bar of soap? Please, give me some perspective.
4 comments:
That's a toughie, but in life I believe you have to "go with your gut" and in this case, your gut's internal alarm system is sounding off.
I have no problem using bar soap at most friends' houses. But public places are a different story. Here's an idea: If you are on the fence about whether to use the bar soap in a restroom--whether it be in a stranger's home, friend's home, or in public--you could perhaps invoke the toilet paper question to help yourself decide: In the same bathroom, would you cover the toilet seat with toilet paper before dropping anchor? If the answer is "yes," then I'd say stay away from the soap. If the answer is "no," then you obviously have a certain amount of trust in the cleanliness of the overall environment, so the bar soap is likely ok to lather up with.
Other side notes: There are many people who believe that soap is inherently self-cleaning. I consider myself in this camp; however, if I ever found an affixed pube, for example, the whole "soap is self-cleaning" thing would be out the window.
Also, squatter's rights on the soapdish you refer to seems highly unlikely. BUT...if that is the case, then some morning in the near future, this guy (or gal?) deserves to be treated to the rude awakening of an Irish Spring bar deeply-embedded with a couple of Schwami hairs.
People in the desert wash their babies in cow or camel piss.
Special forces in the field wipe their ass with their finger and one SQUARE of toilet paper.
Some guys actually fuck Amy Winehouse.
I doubt that pub[l]ic soap is going to put you in any serious jeopardy. And I bet the scientist examining the bar of soap from your home couldn't distinguish it from the pub[l]ic one. Unless, of course, you use Lava. There is going to be chunks of DNA all over that bar.
These are great comments. I now have a follow up to add. The day after I posted, when I got out of the shower, I noticed that there is a shower caddy on the shelf in front of the mirror. The contents include:
-One half used bottle of conditioner (I picked it up to check)
-Two bars of unopened Irish Spring soap, one anti-bacterial, the other regular
-One unopened Ace Bandage
-Stack of brown paper towels
This stuff seems highly personal, and yet, since I first noticed it there, none of the stuff has been used. Are those soaps/conditioner backups for the shower? If so, why is the conditioner half used? Also, what's with the paper towels and bandage? Is that in case someone in the shower accidentally trips and cuts themselves? If so, where's the antiseptic?
My guess is that it is some former shower user or a student (yes, I work at a University) who is off for the summer. That person decided that his stuff would be safe there, or he wanted to donate it to all the bike commuters who would follow as a tribute.
Antho, the only problem with your "drop anchor" question is that the shower is in a separate room from the toilets. While the toilets are clean and well maintained, they are public, which always necessitates TP strips. However, the shower seems to be a different animal to me. For instance, I am not wearing shower sandals -- does that count for something?
In case you were wondering, I am still using the public soap. Apparently, this has not bothered me too much. I'll let you know if I have any serious changes to my skin. Since I work in a scientific wing, perhaps I should run the DNA test dirkonim was discussing.
... or I could just wash myself in camel piss.
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