A couple of weeks ago Madison called me on a Friday via Facetime. We always talk this way so I can see her and observe her face and her reactions. It just makes me feel better. Plus, I get to show her the dog and they can communicate. Oh, and the rest of her family. So, Madison called and started off the conversation by telling me that school had been cancelled that Friday at 1:00 pm because the city was having a water issue.
Madison: "Apparently, their supply is low."
Me: "What? Low? How did that happen?"
Madison: "A pipe broke."
She said she had gone to a coffee shop and had eventually been kicked out as they were closing. She went to the library and eventually they too kicked her out. Because the water supply was so low the city was asking everyone to not use the water until the issue could be fixed. Because we Floridians have an aquifer, we know all about low water supply. We also know that when that happens sometimes we have to boil our water just to be on the safe side. So I mentioned this to my daughter who assured me that wasn't the problem in North Carolina.
Madison: "We aren't suppose to flush the toilets unless we have a jug of bottled water."
Me: "I'm assuming most of you college students don't have that.
Madison: "We're just not flushing."
Me: "Says the youths of today who don't realize that eventually there will be a smelly problem."
Madison: "Maybe I should have taken your poopouri."
We continue talking, but every four minutes or so her phone would beep with a new alert regarding the water issue. By the time we had finished catching each other up on things, the water situation in the city was declared a state of emergency. Now everyone was being told NOT to drink the water, and the health department had shut down all of the restaurants. The city was literally becoming a ghost town. The university told students to leave if at all possible for the weekend as the dining halls were shut down.
Madison: "It really sucks because I was going to shower earlier since I haven't showered since Monday."
WHAT? I was sure I had heard this wrong. Of course, I didn't calmly ask her to repeat this, but instead immediately jumped on to that statement like a flea on a dog.
Me: "WHAT? YOU HAVEN'T SHOWERED SINCE MONDAY? ARE YOU CRAZY? WTH? WHY HAVE YOU NOT SHOWERED. OMG! YUCK!"
Madison: "Well, maybe it was Wednesday. I can't remember."
My OCD went out of control. I immediately felt like showering just on hearing that this kid had not had a shower in five days. See what I mean about losing control of your children? She, of course, just laughed. She was too busy for something like cleaning her body. She pulled out some strands of hair and smelled them.
Madison: "My hair smells fine. Actually, it smells good. It must have been Wednesday. But, I really don't remember doing that then. It might have been Monday."
At this point, I was hyperventilating. I thought vaguely of hopping on a plane just to bath her myself, but the knowledge of the water emergency stopped me from spending that exorbitant fee. She told me she had washed her face each evening and morning, and had wet her hair and used some kind of product on it daily. I shuddered. I asked when she had cleaned her sheets last, and was faintly surprised to find she had done that more recently than she had bathed. Of course, those sheets weren't clean any more! Oh, and she assured me she had brushed her teeth. She just hadn't cleaned the rest of her body.
Madison: "I was going to shower today after class, but then the water thing happened. It's not like I didn't plan on getting clean. Shouldn't you be more worried about what I'll eat for dinner?"
Dinner? I wasn't even sure how she could eat not being clean. I had to let it go, but not before suggesting a spit bath using bottled water and antibacterial soap. Four hours later she called again to update us. She took us through the deserted dorm building showing us all of the health department signs on each bathroom, water fountain, kitchen, etc. warning all sorts of dire things if used. Walmart had donated cases of bottled water to the university and one hundred porta potties had been brought in and set up in the parking lots around campus. She took us outside to show us the set up, porta potties with large, bright security lights shining down on them.
Madison: "It's hilarious. You can just look all around and spot the potties from the bright spot lights."
Most of the kids went home. Madison had run into the guy from California in her dorm who has to stay like she does during four day weekends. He inquired on whether she had enough water and they seemed to be the only ones in the damn dorm. I hoped he had showered in the last few days. She told me she didn't ask him, nor did she mention she hadn't had a shower since Monday.
The next day her roommate's parents came and hauled the girls back to their house for the weekend. I'm assured the first thing my daughter did was to shower. Twice.
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