Beijing showers, procrastination and dirty towels

Waiting tables in college taught me one lesson that I’ll always remember; never leave the kitchen empty-handed.

You leave the kitchen take something – anything – because it’s needed out front by somebody.

Since being a stay at home dad I’ve had to practice that lesson countless times, but it’s helped me keep the Mojo castle slightly cleaner.  I’m leaving a room – I grab a bottle, cup or toy and put it in its rightful place.

This is basic stuff, but it’s light years from where I came from.  Even tough I learned the original lesson in college, I went through The Dark Years (where dirt and procrastination where my best friends. )

The Shower

Before Baby Mojo came into the picture Mommy Mojo and I were dating and she was over at the house.  She had to wash her face, went to turn on the hot water and was aghast that there wasn’t any.  “Your hot water isn’t working, how long has it been out?”, she asked.  To hear her tell the story, she was under the impression that it was something that happened a day or two ago.

“Oh, it’s been out a couple of months”, I answered with all seriousness. 

“A COUPLE MONTHS?  How do you shower?  Can’t you get a plumber in here to fix it?”

“Oh, it’s not broken, I’ve got the parts to fix it in the other room….”.  In hindsight I realize how silly it was to not have hot water in the bathroom.  It was the worst case of procrastination I’d ever accomplished,  I was busted and without an excuse.

“How do you shower?”, she said, which was quite a reasonable question considering.

“Well, I shower very quickly.”

“Why?  When there’s hot water readily available?

“It’s not the worst place I’ve ever showered”

The worst place I’d showered was this hostel in Beijing.  It was in the middle of winter, there was no hot water and there were multiple holes in the wall where I could look out onto various, smog covered buildings .  It was cold, had broken tiles on the floor, a flimsy curtain with rips and one of those prison mirrors that cast a reflection but wasn’t really a mirror. 

So, whenever I’d shower at home, I’d think of that awful, cold shower that I had in Beijing for that couple of weeks and it wasn’t that bad. The house was under renovation and the cold showers were a small price to pay for not getting on my stomach to light the pilot when it would go out.

Mommy Mojo didn’t see the logic in my story either and suggested that I stop procrastinating and get that hot water flowing ASAP.  

The Dirty Towel

A couple of weeks after the hot water in the bathroom was fixed Mommy Mojo was washing her face and asked me to hand her a towel.

“Eww, this towel smells”, she said.

“oh.  I might have accidentally given you the towel that I cleaned up the cat pee with”, I sheepishly said.  She screamed and promptly threw away all of my towels. It was then that she washed her face for a second time and took a shower with our newfound hot water, using her towel.

On the positive side, I no longer have to clean up cat urine and we have all new towels.