Embarassing shower

Visiting with family often involves staying with family, at least if the invitation is extended and it's convenient and you'd really like to have more visiting time. But there are definite drawbacks - homes are not hotels and hosts are not professional hoteliers. There's some awkwardness if the toilet doesn't flush right, you can't find adequate towels or there's no bedding on the bed.

But this past weekend I had an incident I wish I could go back and do over.

Our hosts had been more than gracious in opening their home to us. "Our" bedroom was superbly prepared and welcoming. "Our" bathroom was just across the hall and, since we were the only guests, virtually our private bathroom.

The morning after our first night there I arose early to take a shower. I noticed that they had a new shower curtain and it was a fabric one. I was concerned that the weave was quite open but I had seen other fabric curtains work well in containing the shower to the tub area. I began the shower and was delighted to see that it was a good, strong spray. Enjoyable as the shower was, I took care to cut my shower a little short so that I didn't use up all the hot water. I didn't know how probable that was so I tried to err on the short side.

You can imagine my chagrin as I pulled back the shower curtain and stepped out of the tub and into 1/8 inch of water all over the bathroom floor. It appeared that the curtain had contained very little of the water so everything on the floor had gotten wet - some only damp others, soaked. My new change of clothes was partially soaked, the throw rug was completely soaked, my pajamas were damp, ... Well, you get the idea. Bathrooms are meant to get somewhat damp but not like this.

I immediately began sopping up all the water I could with my towel. I didn't even bother to dry myself off first. I didn't know if my clean underwear was dry or wet. Fortunately, the Arizona weather was dry and once I wiped up the floor or the wall or the toilet, the thin film of water remaining evaporated quickly. However, my supply of clothing was limited. I had to dress in pants of which one leg was completely soaked through. No way I could hide this disaster. Our hosts fortunately did not appear too upset but not particularly surprised either since they almost never use the guest shower. We're in the same situation in our home.

I don't know if Carolyn elected to use a different bathroom or delayed her shower but I did notice that our shower had a plastic curtain liner the next morning. And I didn't spill a drop on the floor!