If you have ever thought it was okay to leave a clump of your hair in the communal showers, this isn’t a safe space for you. 

Allow me to set the scene: you have two hours between your classes, it’s the perfect time to shower and get ready for the day after a tiring morning class. You arrive at your favorite shower stall, the one in the middle where all the hooks are still attached to the walls and the pressure is mediocre instead of horrible. You open the door and lo and behold, what seems to be every single strand of hair from somebody’s head is covering every square inch of the stall. There is hair on the three walls around the shower, on the shelf outside the stall, and on the floor (outside of the shower). Oh, and don’t forget about the little pile on the right corner. This happens once, twice, three times. At least every other day, there is hair (presumably from the same person) in this shower stall. 

Now, I knew going into this year that the bathrooms would be gross. That’s what everyone tells you after they hear that you’re in a communal bathroom. “It’s disgusting, but that’s just part of freshmen year”. After all these comments, I thought I was mentally prepared to face the realities of shared showers. I was wrong. 

I know what you’re thinking, use a different shower. I’ve tried. While they’re not as bad as this particular stall, quite literally every single time I have gone to shower, there is hair lining at least one shower wall (not exaggerating). I have gone through several stages of grief already; denial, depression, anger, and now acceptance.

I have accepted the fact that we shouldn’t have to put up with this. We deserve hairless, clean showers. I stand in solidarity with the people who are genuinely afraid of touching the shower walls. If you have read any of this and thought that maybe it applies to you, look inward, reflect and please clean up after yourself. If you know you tend to lose a lot of hair when you shower (which is completely normal) please, I beg you, clean it up before leaving the stall. 

Image via Bwarchives