I forgot to lock the bathroom door at work today. No one walked in. I don't really worry about it (my office is in an old house so our bathroom is just like a house loo). But as I stared at the handle on my way out, realizing it was unlocked it made me think of being little.
We were not allowed to lock the bathroom door. It was forbidden. My mother (like my best friends and I and my little family now) usually used the bathroom with the door open. We're not shy and who wants to stop talking that long.
You might ask, why could you not lock the door? It was because bad things could happen in the bathroom. Things are small and slippery. So if the floors gets wet and you slip and crack your head on the counter and start to bleed out how in the hell is anyone going to get in without a hatchet? It also made it harder to prevent cruel jokes, like cold water over the three-quarters wall of the shower, or video taping when someone is singing "Like a Virgin" while shampooing.
This rule has been instilled in my very blood. So much so that once when Eddie took a shower and I tried to get into the bathroom, only to find it locked, I started to panic a little bit.. shaking the door handle, wondering where the key was, hoping my phone was nearby in case I heard a crash.. and I waited at the door until the water shut off and then immediately told him to, "open this door immediately. Why did you lock it? What were you thinking? What if SOMETHING Happened to you!" He stood, as you might imagine, like a giant dripping wet deer wishing he had a bigger towel.
Do you have an idiosyncrasies in your routine, upbringing, or child rearing that will probably continue on through generations?
Don't forget that giveaway down there for (owl)ies
2 comments:
my mother does the exact same thing. She yells never to lock bathroom doors, what if we slipped in the shower and cracked our heads in the corner of the tub and bled to death without anybody knowing? Or fell asleep in the bath and drowned?
She stopped enforcing the rule after my little brother was born. For a long while he didn't understand the concept of "knocking". Oy vey...
She has also generously passed on to me fear of wandering off in packed parking lots ("hold my hand! And stay close to me in case you get run over!"), fear of people's hair catching on fans (that's actually rather sensible).
My mum and grandma used to do the same thing. I never locked myself in. In fact, they would always leave the bathroom door open and carry on having a conversation!
One of my sons locked himself in when he was very small and I had a bath running, so I had to break the door down in a very unlady like manner. I totally knackered the lock and the door frame!
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