Those of you who live/have lived in a dorm with a common shower....

[Anya15]

So today I had this weird situation. I went to shower as usual in the morning, and I took about twenty minutes, since today was wash day. Normally, I take ten minutes on a non-wash day. Twenty is my usual for a wash day. After I was done, this girl came to me and started telling me off for taking too long. I told her that I took only 20 minutes which is NOTHING compared to what other girls on my dorm floor take (Some take even 45 min on a non wash day.) Plus, the other shower was unoccupied. She mumbled something and began telling me how she has this really important meeting to go to and that she washed her hair at 3 AM because she didn't want to get late in the morning, and this is what she normally does (washing at night). I was like, fine, but I didn't take that long, and the other shower was still free. She began to tell me that I should start washing my hair at night too. I CANNOT WASH AT NIGHT. Sleeping with wet hair gives me headaches and sinusitis. And my hair won't dry properly and it'll trigger my SD. God. I told her this stuff and left. About half an hour later, I finished my breakfast and was getting ready to go and I see her casually lounging around with a couple of people. So much for her really important meeting.

Has this happened to any of you? :(

[TatsuOni]

The first year I liven in a dorm almost all of the eight people living in our house seemed to have shower day the same day and time. So while in the shower (took about five minutes for me back then) I used to have four guys screaming outside the door "hurry, hurry!" They weren't mad but it still where stressful.

Sometimes I had to postpone my own shower because some of the guys where spending a lot of time in there. Yes, the guys showered a lot longer then us girls. One time I had to postpone my shower to the next day because one of the guys "showered" with his girlfriend. I leave the rest up to your imagination...

Other then that there where a lot of problems getting people to clean on their cleaning day and to do their own dishes.

The year after I lived with different people and there where only one person who had problem with taking care of her own dishes. We all new when the others used to shower and had no problem waiting on our turn.

[Anje]

There was another shower open, yet she's yelling at you?!?! Seriously, what's her problem?

ETA: In my dorm, there were 4 showers for 24 women. We made it work, often by showering at odd times, but it worked.

[Neverremember]

That's just a bad dorm mate you got there. I've lived in dorms with shared bathroom before and nobody would dare say a thing if you took less than half an hour to wash up. It sometimes sucks when you need to do something at the same time as everyone else, but if you cannot plan ahead/wait/find an alternative, you should not live in a dorm and make everyone else miserable!

[Hairkay]

Ignore her, Anou. I shared before for a couple of months in a hostel then with flatmates. Fortunately for me our bath/shower times never clashed. In the hostel it was 6 of us though we had 2 showers and 3 toilets plus our own kitchen/livingroom combination. With the flat share there were 3 of us sharing one bathroom and a separate toilet for two years. The only time I had to queue up for a bath/shower was when I was a child still living in the family home. There would be some clashes. We all got up early. Step-father was first at 3.50am, then mother, then each of us 4 children. At 5am we were all dressed and having breakfast. Morning weekly showers involved washing both hair (WO) and body. We all had to commute to school and work for 8.00-8.30am except step-father who had to be there before 7am.

[Chromis]

While twenty minutes sounds like a long shower to me, there was another open anyhow, so I absolutely do not see a problem there.

[humble_knight]

I shared a house with four others. The first time I needed to use the bathroom for a shower, I saw the base of the bathtub covered in hair, like some gnarly rug. It was one of my housemates, who was ridiculously hairy. I decided from then that I would wake up earlier and shower before him, which worked for the duration of time we lived together. All kinds of strange and, sometimes, funny things happen when one lives with other people.

[Inga-Marjukka]

anou, I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I lived in a flat with five people and two showers (okay, not that bad) and recently moved back to my parents. Three people me included used the other shower, and I have to admit that despite everything running really smoothly and we never had to even discuss making a timetable or anything, I was nervous of washing my hair in the morning in case someone else was in a hurry and needed a shower. I solved this by waking up and showering really really early. It's funny I mainly worried about the mornings because I used to take ages in the shower in the evenings and sometimes there actually was someone politely queueing... Anyway, I think it's always a bit tricky when people are many and bathrooms are few. That girl who gave you a hard time was probably annoyed for other reasons than the duration of your showers, more like the fact that she was frustrated because she couldn't shower right that moment.

I don't miss our flat one bit. It was okay I guess, and everyone did their dishes efficiently etc. but sharing a room with another person I don't know won't happen again any time soon I hope. No problem with that apart from my roomie putting every single light on in the room even in broad daylight and the curtains open. I sometimes woke from a nap and thought I'd died and gone to heaven because it was so bright :lol: So happy I got my own room for uni next year!

[brickworld13]

I'm baffled as to why she was mad at you when there was another stall open. Not to mention dorms are usually multiple floors and you could go to a different one in an emergency if you really needed to wash right this minute. Or the campus athletic center. Or a friend's room.:bs:

[MsPharaohMoan]

Wait so she washed early in the morning to not have to wash later on and end up being late just in case the showers were being used... And yells at you anyways? If I'm hearing this correctly, this is just a random energy vampire looking to pass along her frustration from unrelated life issues. Now you know to ward yourself when they are around. Not a friend.

[lapushka]

I shared a house with four others. The first time I needed to use the bathroom for a shower, I saw the base of the bathtub covered in hair, like some gnarly rug. It was one of my housemates, who was ridiculously hairy. I decided from then that I would wake up earlier and shower before him, which worked for the duration of time we lived together. All kinds of strange and, sometimes, funny things happen when one lives with other people.

Did someone come to clean your bathroom out? Because if you showered the next day, early, that hair would have still been there, no?

[humble_knight]

Did someone come to clean your bathroom out? Because if you showered the next day, early, that hair would have still been there, no?


He would clean it out, but later in the day when it suited him. The other guys didn't seem to mind wading in his hair while they showered.

[Wavelength]

He would clean it out, but later in the day when it suited him. The other guys didn't seem to mind wading in his hair while they showered.

I wonder if he was shaving in there as well. Some people shave in the shower, and that would explain all the hair.

[Loktra]

When I lived in a dorm (4 years) I tended to shower whenever it wasn't high traffic. I avoided 6am-9am like the plague. Sometimes this meant in the wee hours, but if my sleep schedule was more "normal" and I couldn't afford to be up late waiting for my hair to be less wet, I'd shower after class or between afternoon classes. I can sleep on damp hair (especially in a sleep cap!), but it still took a good 2-3 hours to get to a sleepable level of damp after a shower. I didn't care about going to class with wet hair (in winter I just put it all in a big hat to go between classes), so it was never a huge issue.


I never had anybody chew me out for having a shower, not even a longer one. That girl was very rude, especially since there was an open shower!! I had a preference for a particular shower stall, but I never saw anyone on my floor waiting for a specific one. How odd.

[Xena1975]

When I was 15-16 I was sent to what was pretty much a reform school. We only got 3 minutes to take a shower. It was horrible. They made us shower twice a day so the only way I managed was to wash my body during one shower and my hair during the other one. We were supposed to do both in each shower. I'd let my hair get wet even when I didn't wash it and they just assumed I did. Unless I got lucky and got the stall that had a tub and a handheld sprayer with good pressure it was hard for me to rinse my hair. At home I always wash my hair under the tub faucet, most shower heads don't give enough pressure for me to rinse easily, plus I hate getting water in my face. I started using that 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner when I was there because I never would have had time to condition.

I got athlete's foot a few times there too even though they had us wear flip flops in the shower and step in betadine or some other disinfectant before showering. I never had athlete's foot in my life except when I lived there.

[Anya15]

Thanks all of you, so it's not just me, this girl is flat out crazy lol :lol:

Yes, she was mad even though there was another shower which was free. And yes, she apparently woke up at 3 am, washed her hair, went back to sleep, woke up at 8 AM and found that the shower was occupied, so she went crazy. Maybe she didn't even check the other shower. Idk. The worst was when she started suggesting I do the same thing. Hello. I have hair and scalp and headache issues. My hair doesn't dry as fast as hers (hers dries in some 10 minutes. She seems to have extremely porous hair.) Ugh. And all that bs about some stupid meeting which was obviously a lie.

Humble Knight, that sounds annoying, the hairy housemate. I hope he at least cleaned up later!

Anje, here it's 2 showers per 12 women so it's the same ratio. And out of the twelve of us, 80% of them take 45 minutes or more for a REGULAR shower. She should be yelling at them, not me.

[lapushka]

He would clean it out, but later in the day when it suited him. The other guys didn't seem to mind wading in his hair while they showered.

That is just bah... gross. I don't blame you for getting up before him and showering first!


Thanks all of you, so it's not just me, this girl is flat out crazy lol :lol:

Yes, she was mad even though there was another shower which was free. And yes, she apparently woke up at 3 am, washed her hair, went back to sleep, woke up at 8 AM and found that the shower was occupied, so she went crazy. Maybe she didn't even check the other shower. Idk. The worst was when she started suggesting I do the same thing. Hello. I have hair and scalp and headache issues. My hair doesn't dry as fast as hers (hers dries in some 10 minutes. She seems to have extremely porous hair.) Ugh. And all that bs about some stupid meeting which was obviously a lie.

She's not all there if she complains about the length of the shower, when there's a shower free. I'd keep an eye on her, if I were you.

[JiggeryPokery]

I lived in the women's dorms last school year and never had any problems in the bathrooms, other than little things like hair in the drains and girls listening to bad music while they shower. We actually had two bathrooms per floor, one on either side of the hallway, in my building. Both bathrooms had 5 showers, so 10 showers for around 60 (I think, maybe more) girls. I always waited to take a shower when I knew no one or very few people would be in the bathroom, like dinner time or late at night. I tend to take long showers, 20-30 minutes, but no one ever complained. I don't even think there was ever a time when all the showers were being used at once, but I did try to avoid the bathroom at high traffic times.

Was that girl waiting outside the shower the entire time you were showering, timing you? How did she know how long you were in there? She seems like kind of a self-obsessed person, to complain about something like that. Like, yeah I used to get slightly annoyed if someone was using the shower I liked to use. But I wasn't annoyed at that person, I was annoyed at my own bad timing.

[lithostoic]

I would've straight told her to f off as soon as she started talking to me.

[pailin]

She has issues. My college dorm had 3 showers for each hall, and I remember the shower head was really low in one - hard to get your head under. So there could have been a reason she didn't like the available shower, but that still does not excuse the rudeness.

[Anje]

Anje, here it's 2 showers per 12 women so it's the same ratio. And out of the twelve of us, 80% of them take 45 minutes or more for a REGULAR shower. She should be yelling at them, not me.

It's rather tough at that ratio. I think I tended to take showers mid-afternoon or early evening during that period, because there was little competition then.

[Anya15]

I lived in the women's dorms last school year and never had any problems in the bathrooms, other than little things like hair in the drains and girls listening to bad music while they shower. We actually had two bathrooms per floor, one on either side of the hallway, in my building. Both bathrooms had 5 showers, so 10 showers for around 60 (I think, maybe more) girls. I always waited to take a shower when I knew no one or very few people would be in the bathroom, like dinner time or late at night. I tend to take long showers, 20-30 minutes, but no one ever complained. I don't even think there was ever a time when all the showers were being used at once, but I did try to avoid the bathroom at high traffic times.

Was that girl waiting outside the shower the entire time you were showering, timing you? How did she know how long you were in there? She seems like kind of a self-obsessed person, to complain about something like that. Like, yeah I used to get slightly annoyed if someone was using the shower I liked to use. But I wasn't annoyed at that person, I was annoyed at my own bad timing.
She wasn't outside the shower when I came out, but she was obviously checking on how long I was in there! :lol:


I would've straight told her to f off as soon as she started talking to me.

That is what I am going to do next time. I don't need to be nice to such people.

She has issues. My college dorm had 3 showers for each hall, and I remember the shower head was really low in one - hard to get your head under. So there could have been a reason she didn't like the available shower, but that still does not excuse the rudeness.

The other shower is completely fine, I have showered there several times so she had no excuse to not go there if she was really running late for her non-existent meeting.


It's rather tough at that ratio. I think I tended to take showers mid-afternoon or early evening during that period, because there was little competition then.

Surprisingly, I've never had this problem before, because most of the people on my floor wake up late, and I wake up about an hour earlier than them, so I get my showering done on time. Because of the climate here, a morning shower is an absolute necessity or I feel gross. :lol: Too much heat and humidity. I shower in the evening too lol, I need to take two showers a day.