My first week of college, I walked in on my new next-door neighbor in the shower. In my defense, the door wasn’t locked, there wasn’t a towel hanging over it, and somebody was in the other shower in our communal bathroom, so there was no way I could’ve known. But that doesn’t make it less awkward.
Since then, the dorm showers have been nothing if not an adventure.
Last year, a handful of girls from my floor would shriek–not even talk loudly, I mean literal screams for absolutely no reason–during their showers. And their preferred shower time was midnight, so it wasn’t amusing.
The amount of hair in the shower drain was appalling. Sometimes it’s hard to avoid shedding while shampooing, but especially after I cut ten inches off my own hair, it’s really unappealing to see and dodge on the tile floor.
This year, the hair issue hasn’t been that bad, but all sorts of other items appear in the three stalls–my roommate once found a lighter in hers. Like, c’mon, fellow floormates, this is ridiculous.
Even more ridiculous? The fact that on three separate occasions someone has turned off the bathroom light while I’m showering, plunging me into darkness. Like, hello?? You can hear the water running!
Finally, there’s the classic issue of water temperature.
My current next-door neighbor turns on a shower and leaves for ten minutes while it warms up. That’d be fine, except the water actually heats up relatively fast once it’s on. I’m talking 45 seconds, maybe a minute if nobody’s showered in a while.
Besides how obviously wasteful that habit is, leaving the water on full, boiling heat also steams up the ENTIRE bathroom, meaning every surface is unpleasantly damp from condensation.
Hiding in the corner of the shower while it warms up isn’t fun, I understand that, but if you’re using a communal dorm shower, don’t be that girl.
This post is part of my April A to Z Challenge. For more All Things College posts, click here.
Victim to Charm 
I did a work-exchange for my room in college, and I’m really happy I did so. I had my own shower, with great pressure and heat. Haha. Since I use the shower as my destress (I don’t shower every day… I’m Californian, and water shortage, yo!) when I do shower, I want it to be relaxing.
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Jealous! I only have about 3 more weeks of living in the dorm, so I think I can handle it until then :)
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Yeah, my college days are WAY behind me now. However, I remember the bathroom experiences. ~~~ My son is lucky. He’s finishing his third year at university, and he has his own apartment. So he doesn’t have to bother with other people. I wish I had that back in the day.
Precious Monsters
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Such a luxury! Next year I’ll have my own place too so it’ll be better.
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I only lived i the dorms 2 years, the rest of the time I had my own apartment. But yes, shower incidents can be most embarrassing.
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I’m closing in on my second year and will be living in a house next year, so my time is almost over!
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I’ve never been to college, but at a certain point I shared an appartement with other four girls. The shower was one of the few topics we argued about.
I hate hair int he bathroom too. Only one of the girl wasn’t mindful of this, but it was really unpleasant.
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With a bunch of girls it can be hard!
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My kids have been pretty lucky with the shower thing. They only had to use communal during their freshman years. But when my daughter studied for a semester in Morocco, the family she lived with turned the hot water off to save money and she usually had to take a cold shower.
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In Spain the culture is to turn off the shower while washing your hair, body, etc. Other places seem to value the water (and the money associated with it) more!
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I’ve been walked in on in a shower- ugh and I absolutely hate common showers (had to be in a unisex dorm for three months :( )but I guess it’s inevitable at times.
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Inevitable, but no less uncomfortable!
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Communal bathrooms are going to SUCK next year… I’m honestly scared for my well-being.
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You’ll learn to survive. I went from having an entirely private bathroom at home (didn’t have to share with ANYONE) to sharing with 30+ girls. I wouldn’t say I enjoy it, but I tolerate it.
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Hahahahahahahahaa… You made me laugh out loud with this one, Sabina. Actually, I’ve been laughing a lot when I’m at your blog :D You have a gift — humor doesn’t write easily. And yes, absolutely: please *don’t* be that girl.
Thanks for the visits over at Quiet Laughter — you got the bonus word right on M day, so congratulations: you’re in the draw (again, haha) to win a copy of those Curaçao short stories ;)
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Thanks, Guilie! I don’t consider myself a humor writer, but I’m glad you enjoy my occasional comedy!
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You took me back to college. Except we didn’t have showers here in India. We used the good ol’ fashioned bucket of water. But the long waiting, the banging on the doors, the turning out the lights. Yep, relate to all of that ;)
*Shailaja/Alternate Angles/A-Z*
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Ha! Some things about college are universal, aren’t they? Thanks for stopping by, Shailaja!
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I went to college with someone who is now a well-known comedian and television star. I saw his first gig, a set on campus. He had a great bit about showering in Lima Hall, the freshman dorm. “The dude with the flip-flops always wins the morning shuffle to get the best stall!”
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Love it!
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I was so glad when I got off-campus and moved into a house nearby, because then I finally got a private shower!
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Only two more weeks in the dorm and I’ll be relieved of this issue!
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Glad to hear it!
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