Perhaps a Pre-bed Shower is Called For

Thank God I gave myself extra time to get ready for work after my swim because a cleaning lady threw out my towel, shampoo, conditioner and face wash. And then I made her go to the dumpster and get it back.

Here's what happened. I had the car today and thought I would go for a swim and then go to work from there. I set my towel and accoutrement up in the shower so I could just get going more quickly, maybe do a few extra laps. I've never done it before and only did it today because I thought I would be the only person in the locker room. No biggie.

I swam for 35 minutes and when I turned the corner to the shower all my stuff was gone. The cleaning lady was still in the locker room so I asked her if she'd seen my stuff. She said yes- that she threw it away. I looked at her in disbelief and asked if it was in the trash can she had with her. She said no- that she threw it in the dumpster. She then went to explain that things left out for a long time get thrown out. I told her it was only there for 20 minutes!! (I lied, okay? Sue me.) I just kept saying I have to go straight to work from here, that's my stuff, what am I going to do? So I asked her if there was anyway she can get it for me. Get it out of the dumpster. I was as nice as one can be when asking someone to do something kind of very gross. And she found everything but the face wash- all the other shower stuff was in one container. The loss of the face wash is one I can live with. Well, not really. I have to. I wasn't about to make her go back and get a little bottle. That would be crossing the line into douchebaggery. But if I didn't get my toiletry bag back I would've been pissed.

I easily could've dried myself off with paper towels and a blow-dryer. I've done it before. But it would've taken longer than I had left at this point. And I could've just put my hair back in a bun without washing with shampoo but I would've felt gross. So I smelled the otherwise clean looking towel and dealt with what it could've been dumped with and dried off with it. (Though I saved the special bits and used a paper towel on those.)

On my way out I asked the desk attendant to please thank the cleaning lady for me and that I really appreciated what she did for me. I wasn't angry ever, just in kind of a shock. So I wanted her to know that the fact she climbed in a dumpster did not go unnoticed or appreciated. I would've said more to her when she brought my stuff back but I got the sense she wanted to get the hell away from the jerk who asked her to do something kind of humiliating. She left her cart in the locker room and just left. I cannot in any way blame her.