If you didn’t have the privilege of apartment style or a shared washroom, many of us had to share a washroom with over 20 other girls. That doesn’t seem so bad until it’s 2:00 AM and you feel like your bladder may explode! Here’s a list of things that you know if you had a communal washroom in your dorm…
You’ve probably seen at least one really gross thing. Hair in the showers doesn’t phase you anymore and you just boop it down the drain. If you’ve seen someone else’s, ahem, other forms of bodily functions, it’s probably less easy to deal with.
You’ve probably done at least one really gross thing, too. For the sake of your roommates, I hope that it was easily hidden.
Getting your period is the actual worst. How are you supposed to change your pad or tampon? Cleaning up is impossible. And heaven forbid you go into a stall without a trashcan and have to walk out with that giant wad of toilet paper. They never EVER look like they do on the website. The expectations were state-of-the-art, what we got was “sometimes clean.”
Forgetting to put on your flip-flops to go to the shower is totally worth the walk back to your room. The fungus is totally not worth it, even for five minutes. Who knows what people have been doing on that floor! Seeing your roommates naked never stops being surprising. If you have a co-ed bathroom like I do right now, it might even be a little more embarrassing!
And if you don’t have a co-ed bathroom, bringing someone of another gender over is really noticeable.
Walking into the washroom and seeing all the stalls taken… what are you even supposed to do?
Waiting in the stall until you hear the person outside leave. There is no way I am interacting right now, screw socializing and let me pee in peace. And, like, having to buy your own toilet paper for a communal room? Tragic. Thank goodness for Amazon one-day shipping on the first day you move in.
Hostel bathrooms will never faze you after this, though. It’s the exact same thing, so don’t forget your flip-flops.
Shaving is the worst because you don’t want to touch any of the walls or the floor for fear of the grossness. Leggings are a permanent fixture due to not shaving for a month, even when it’s warm.
But the feeling of showering at 2:00 AM when no one else is using the washroom — and you have warm water with pressure — is priceless. A little paradise and some peace and quiet can never be under-appreciated.