Butt Naked

Long time, no hear right? I know it's been a while. My life has been in a state of upheavel for the past year, but that's not the story I want to tell right now.

This morning gave me a rare opportunity to get a workout in before work without having to get up before the sun even had the thought of rising. The 8th grade was to enjoy a lovely spring day at the Denver Zoo learning about animals that are in the unfortunate position of experiencing a great amount of poaching across the world. This meant I needn't show my face at school until 8:45am.

Being extremely excited to hit the health club early, I packed my bag last night and loaded it into my car. Throughout the evening, I ran my usual morning ritual over and over in my head. I just felt like I was forgetting something. I had my undergarments, pants, shirt, beauty products, deoderant.....that was it--I had everything.

Morning came and I eagerly made my way to the club and to the lockerroom. I began arranging my things in the locker to make my shower time easier when I was finished working out. Hmmn.....that's when I realized I had not brought a towel. After being a member of a fabulous health club in Minnesota for so many years where I was given a towel to use every time I worked out, I sometimes forget to bring one from home. Luckily, I use a small hand towel to wipe the sweat from my head when I run, so that would have to be good enough for after-shower purposes. I left that towel in the locker to await my return from my workout.

That towel option is not the only difference between my old club and my current one. Another is the cleaning and maintenance expectations of the people who work there. I know this. There are very few days when I go to the gym and there's no hair hanging from the shower walls, no band-aids sticking to some invisible owie the floor has suffered, or no machine out of order (for weeks!). This day was no different.

After having a great run and workout I headed, bare-bottomed with my teeny towel to the showers. Many other women decided to get some exercise before work today leaving only one of the five shower stalls left. Perfect! I definitely needed to get cleaned up to make it to work on time. I entered the very small stall, pulled the knob to get the hot water running and pulled the door shut. Just a moment later, there seemed to be a bit of a draft softly blowing across my butt. I turned around to find the stall door slowly opening on it's own. I grabbed the door thinking I had not closed it tight enough and pulled it shut again. I then watched the frosted glass door stealthily creep outward revealing my nakedness to anyone happening to walk by. After attempting to close the door a few more times, I knew this was a losing battle--that door was not going to allow me to shower in private.

Now I was forced to find a way to wash and rinse my hair of shampoo and conditioner and then wash my body without the door standing wide open. Thankfully the past few months of practicing Bikram Yoga paid off. There I was balancing on the wet, soapy tile on my left foot while I hooked my right foot under the door and pulled it closed. This is the position I stayed in for the duration of my shower. The most challenging part of this was having to reach over my shoulder to pump soap from the dispenser on the wall to wash my body without falling down or allowing the door to open. It's a good thing I take quick showers!