I am all finished with my bath and back to post. Shannon called me a few days ago and as we were talking, she asked how I was getting along in the shower. I said, "I am not using it." I can't figure out how to get in and out without falling. I told her I planned to sit in the bathroom on a kitchen stool and wash up there.
She thought that was the grossest thing she had ever heard. No shower until you get out of the cast ??????? Told her it worked like this. You fill the sink with hot water and start with the face and work to the waist. Stop there.
Then you start at the toes and work up to the waist. Wa Laaaaaaaaaa! Parts are all clean. Then I put on clean clothes, tame my hair and I am done. She still says that is the grossest thing she has ever heard of.
Then I had to re-tell her the story of how I spent the first 18 years of my life without a tub or shower (stool for that matter) in the house. The facilities were out the kitchen door, down the sidewalk and across the driveway. The "tub" was located out side in the wash house. In the early days it was a round one. Then we graduated to a long metal one. I think I preferred the round one. It didn't take as much water to get the job done and it was easier to empty and carry the water outside.
You might wonder why we didn't just dump it in the kitchen sink, since that is the room we took our baths in. That was a BIG no no. Everything that went down the kitchen sink went into a septic tank buried under ground near our drive way. It had a heavy iron cover on it so nothing would fall into it. Every so often some VERY unlucky person would have to empty it. This job always went to one of the guys. First they would take the lid off. Then they got a 5 gallon pail with a long rope attached to it. In case you haven't guessed by now, they had to empty the nasty thing by hand. You would have to stand straddling the hole,drop the bucket down and pull the full pail up and dump it. Drop the bucket back in and repeat the process until it was empty. It was a dirty and back breaking job!! As I said, nothing went down the kitchen sink that didn't have to
Contrary to what Shannon thinks, I know I can survive until I am able to get in the shower without being afraid of falling !!
3 comments:
I'm with Shannon on that one.
I don't think I could have survived your childhood, by the way, and I certainly wouldn't have been a good parent in those days.
Love ya! Get that picture up!
Oh, Bobbie, what would your girls do if they knew the story of how my grandma had to bathe - in the same bath water as all of her brothers and sisters. I think the youngest went first b/c they were less dirty and it worked the way up to the oldest if I remember her story correctly.
P.S. I think you are doing just fine - as you said - all the parts are clean. I think when I broke my ankle last year I was able to put a big garbage bag over my leg and get in the shower then just sponged that leg. IF you are really dying for a shower.
Post a Comment