Bathtubs not meant for sharing

What if today's motels were set up so that everyone on the same floor shared one bathroom? And there were no showers, everyone shared a bathtub. What would you do? That's a chin-scratcher, ain't it?

I got to thinking about this the other day when The Lady of the House and I were looking at places to go for a weekend getaway.

"Here's a place up in the Texas Panhan-dle," said The Lady of the House.

"It's a little bed and breakfast. And oh, how quaint, everyone shares a bathtub. I wonder if they run in and clean it between uses."

"I could call and ask," I volunteered.

Sharing a shower doesn't seem so odd to me. Gym class, college dorms, campgrounds or truck stops...everyone using the same shower doesn't seem so weird.

But a shared tub?

I don't know what kind of "cooties" a person might expect to get from a shared tub but it's generally understood it gets cleaned before you use it.

Once upon a time I shared a house with two other guys. There was only a tub, no shower. I got used to the idea of sharing the bathing facilities but the guy studying to be an anthropologist at the local university apparently didn't.

"Did you clean the tub?" He would frequently ask when we encountered each other in our comings and goings.

One time I was looking for a place to live in a small town. I saw an ad in the local paper: "ROOM FOR RENT, $150 A MONTH." So I called.

"Is there a shower?" I asked the landlady over the phone.

"Just a tub," she said. "You share it with four retirees I have here."

I passed on the groovy pad with the four retired guys and the tub.

And I believe we'll pass on that bed and breakfast up in the Texas Panhandle.

Grant McGee is a long-time broadcaster and former truck driver who rides bicycles and likes to talk about his many adventures on the road of life.

Contact him at: [email protected]

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