Monday, January 26, 2015

Snow & Red Toes

New York hasn't had any snow this Winter, so tomorrow Mother Nature is dumping a ton on us. Several feet of snow. It'll be like living in Minnesota.

Snow is pretty and I have no problem with it... but... our power-lines are on utility poles. And the poles are under trees. The greater risk from snow is losing electricity for days. When Hurricane Sandy hit two years ago, I was without electricity for ten days. That means no heat, hot water or normal comforts.

This prospect reminds me of a funny story that happened to me during the time after Sandy. I blogged about it then, so I'll repeat it now. I guarantee you'll laugh or at least smile.

 
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Like most Long Islanders, I don't have electricity.  Which means no heat and no hot water.  It was fun and novel for 2-3 days, then the thrill wore off and life got hard.  The temperature in my house is slowly descending; it's now in the mid-50's.  Of course the refrigerator stopped working and everything in it is spoiled.

The worst thing, I find, is not having hot water.  Not having a shower for a week means you wake up feeling grungy and there's no way to improve that.  Your hair sticks out sideways; your skin feels icky; and there's not enough cologne or perfume to mask your natural scent.

I'm used to a routine of taking a hot shower every morning.  Not being able to do that started to affect me emotionally.  I was depressed at sliding out of a cold bed, into cold air, for an inadequate sponge-bath with cold water. 

Fortunately, with the help of a fuzzy friend, that changed an hour ago.  Alerted by my good pal, I learned the local YMCA just opened up and is offering free hot showers to anyone in the community.  I rushed over and... OH MY GOD!!

Seriously, oh my God!  I'm human again!  I took a shower three times the length of normal, with blistering hot water.  I scrubbed half of my skin off and now I'm lobster-red.  My skin is terribly painful from the scrubbing but, damn it, I wasn't going to stop washing.  Luckily, I was girly enough to bring lotion to soothe my burning skin after the shower.

Here's the funny part.  In the midst of my personal little tragedy, there is some comedy.

I was poised to take my long-desired shower, in a communal shower-room surrounded by nine other naked men in very close proximity.  I pulled off my pants and realized I was wearing pink panties.  Okay, I could slide them off with my pants and no one was the wiser.  Then I pulled off my socks and realized, oops!, I have ten toes with bright red nail-polish on them.  No way to conceal those in the shower.  Now, you know -- there was never any doubt about my going into the shower; the only issue was how nine male strangers would react to the sight.  I steeled myself emotionally and decided to endure any abuse.

Happily, nobody said anything.  I'm sure several saw the sparkling toesies but were too flummoxed to vocalize their thoughts.  Just as well, because I wasn't going to accept any crap in my pursuit of the Holy Grail of hot water.

Have you ever walked into a room of strangers knowing all eyes are on you?

30 comments:

  1. Not naked, but yes. They get over it. My son is in Boston, so I'm following this closely, though he's had enough practice in Chicago. And hot running water is the greatest invention of humankind. I hope yours holds out!

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    1. I really want to go to Boston, I love their accent :)

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    2. Dale, you should! Boston is a great city. The best I've ever visited. I spent three years there during law school and return all the time. Lots of fun things to do.

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  2. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a snow day tomorrow. I'm so sorry about your not having power! That's awful! <3 Stay strong and I'm super glad you got a shower.

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  3. We get the opposite here when it gets too hot 115F we loose power to then we have to survive in the heat. I love snow and the cold. I went for a run this morning and it was 45F in shorts and a shirt. You have survived before i am sure you will survive again. You are a super strong person :)

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  4. Same as Dale, the one recent time we lost power was in the heat. It was miserable. DH and I tried to go one town over where they had restaurants with air and power and our car overheated on the way.

    Stay safe! I hope you have plenty of reserves to make it through. Take care of yourself, and prayers for the best.

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  5. Thinking of you and hoping your power stays on during/after the blizzard! We get huge windstorms here, and lose our power a lot. The longest was a week and I know exactly how you feel about the shower!

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  6. 10 days without hot water would NOT be fun but I really could handle a snow day.... Obviously my situation is very different but when I was dancing we'd sometimes have one communal changing room and getting naked in front of people got old fast. I can honestly say that no one ever noticed anyone but themselves! On that note hopefully the storm isn't too bad for everyone! It's big though, they are reporting on it on the European news channels!
    xo
    styleontheside.com

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  7. My dad was in the hospital for six months and had to have sponge baths. When he was finally able to get up for a real shower he exclaimed. "Oh, it makes me feel human again!"
    Real showers and hot water are a big deal! I understand it could totally affect your emotions.
    Everybody in the shower was probably so happy to be there they really didn't give a damn about painted toenails!

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  8. I don't know what I would do without a hot shower every morning! I take mine as hot as I can handle and if I even go one day without, I feel yucky. I can't imagine going days and days. I hope you don't lose power during the snow storm! (Haha about the Minnesota comment. VERY true!)
    I love the shower story. I bet the other men admired your toes and wished theirs looked as pretty!

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  9. That gorgeous ex-Marine turned actor Leslie Nielsen could have given an Oscar-worthy performance of your shower room scene, back in the day... And the ex-Marines I actually know would have urged you to fight for the hot water and to use baby wipes for no-power, no-water emergencies. Alas, I must report those cleanse-greasy-hair powders do NOT work. Good luck with The Storm!

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  10. Haha, yes, like living in Minnesota except right now - very little snow here actually!

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  11. Yikes!!! Stay warm and safe with all that snow and I will pray you don't lose power! Love the polished toes! LOL

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  12. Ha, oh dear!!!! It must be men because I avoid all eye-contact at all when in changing rooms, too embarassed. Just shuffle around looking at the floor!!
    As a lady in a man's body, how do you feel about it, do you avoid eye-contact and shuffle round, or is that not the done thing- sorry asking dumb questions, I am interested!
    You did make me smile though! Love the story and very glad for the wonderful YMCA xx

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    1. I act exactly like you, Kezzie. And I always welcome your questions which are intriguing to ponder.

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  13. When we first met, you wouldn't shop for women's clothing publicly in a store. And then there you were, in a shower room with painted toenails. ;)

    Stay safe and warm! And see you soon!

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    1. Good point, Jen. I've travelled very far in a relatively-short period of time. Thanks for the perspective.

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  14. I remember that post, and it was awesome then too!! live it up with the snow.. :)

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  15. This was indeed funny, and I can imagine being out of hot water for days would be dreadful. That is the real fear of these storms, I agree.
    I am so happy to be in the city, where the chances of power outages are less.

    I cant imagine how you felt in shower, but I imagine the over riding sense
    was Damn, this feels good, pink toes and all. As it should be!

    I think the only time "all eyes were on me was my wedding"
    and I was a tiny, slip of a thing then, -oops sort of the same size now, come to think of it, but obscured by lace and veil, and flanked by my tall father, and my small, but larger than life mother. So It was not too bad, otherwise I do not like being the center of attention.

    I am outgoing, friendly, but not an extrovert.

    Glad the storm has passed. There was a chilling photo in the Times, a group of photos from Instagram submitted by users, and there was an elderly lady, alone, pushing her way through the sidewalk, on a walker,
    My heart sank, and perspective came rushing in...

    loved this post.
    xx, elle
    http://mydailycostume.com/

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  16. What a great story. The things we'll do for a hot shower--or, rather, the things we stop caring about. :)

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  17. I hate communal showers at the swimming pool, because it bugs me that my modesty is being forcibly compromised by the pool management. So usually I dry off and change again forcibly compromising my modesty because they don't have changing stalls. I have decided to go to a different pool that offers me privacy. But good on you in your pursuit of hot water, I think I probably would have sucked it up and scrub a dub dubbed like you did!

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  18. luckily you had the situation on your side. i would have just wanted that hot water. forget what people looked like! i don't communal situations men have more than women, like the bathrooms! i want privacy!

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  19. LOL the story is funny and made me smile ! I don't like to take a shower with other people and I feel awkward when people are staring in general. Thank you for your latest comment on my blog, I am glad you like the way I write...it's a big compliment to me. I hope I don't make too many mistakes as I am not a native speaker, of course. I love being funny. I love to make fun of myself, and to laugh about my flaws and weaknesses. Kisses and try to keep warm !!!

    Fashion and Cookies

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  20. Hope the snow hasn't placed havoc with the electricity this time.

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  21. Oh, you poor dear! I hope things are better now??? Oh, and forgive me, the part about the panties and nail polish was hilarious to me!

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  22. At the risk of sounding like I'm being a touch dramatic (which is not my intent), yes, I know that just about anytime I go out in full on vintage garb, the vast majority of eyes are going to be on me. Interestingly, my mom actually really likes to watch those who are watching me, but I scarcely notice any more (unless of course some is glaring or comes up to me with a comment/question). I'm an incredibly shy person and don't usually like/feel comfortable being in the spotlight, but I've gotten rather used to it in this context and typically don't mind any more, especially since most folks are so very nice and are just looking because, as I fully realize, I don't look like most people they see these days in real life.

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. I'm glad you've become accustomed to it, Jessica. You should be happy wearing your vintage clothes. Plus, I'm sure observers are either admiring or curious.

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  23. Hahaha! You're a fantastic story teller. I'm glad no one made a comment about your panties or toe nails.

    And yes, I know the feeling of walking in the room where everyone is looking at you. I used to show up late to my geology class in college. It was filled with about 70-90 students in an auditorium. I would wear 4 inch heels on campus, while everyone else would wear flats or sneakers. Whenever I'd show up (usually late), everyone would turn and look at me...then at my outrageously high heels. LOL! I should probably share that on my blog :)

    Hope you still had power during the snow storm!

    xo Azu

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  24. OMG...lol! That is a fabulous story! You are truly one of the coolest people I've had the pleasure of meeting online. :)
    Debbie
    www.fashionfairydust.com

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