Water Conservation: A Memoir

waterconservation
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

Being that the immediate Washington, D.C. area is experiencing a bit of a drought, perhaps it's time to explore ways to "save water"!

But seriously, I haven't seen a shower like this since I was in Junior High School (1972-1975). And NOTHING about those "wonder years" intimidated me more than taking daily showers with my compatriots. First off, being gay presented a whole lot of embarrassing possibilities. And secondly, I came from a very body prudish family. We did not show off our private bits! I didn't have brothers, and my father was in his fifties and decidedly conservative.

But like most things in life, the anticipation was worse than the experience. Even surrounded by naked peers, my adolescent psyche knew well enough to leave all erotic thoughts in storage for more private venues. I learned that being asked to do something uncomfortable is far easier when it's done in the context of a group dynamic. Doubtless I was not the only boy in the locker room who was either gay or uncomfortable with displaying his body to others. But we learned to accept the expectation and just do it.

In fact, within little time, it became a casual form of intimacy that acted to establish our sense of tribe. We were not herded off into the bush to be communally circumcised, but we none-the-less shared a ritual that others were not privy to. And it taught me that when life offers me something that I do not want to do, but which I have an expectation to do, I could do it. I can overcome my apprehensions. Furthermore, it taught me this lesson at a time in my life when fundamental life lessons are more easily learned and applied.

And I'll never forget that first gym class when because of my last name I had been assigned the first locker in the corner. The boy next to me stripped down with great enthusiasm (he had 4 older brothers), and for the first time in my life I saw an uncircumcised penis. I had never even heard of the procedure, let alone suspected that I had been rendered foreskin-less by it. You can't image my shock. All I could think of was that he had been in some unspeakable and horrible accident! Shortly there after, I found a male nude drawing by the great Northern Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer. The penile malady was identical to my classmate's, and somehow the discovery led me to the truth behind the mystery.

I'm given to understand that teens in the county where I teach are no longer compelled to take showers after P.E. in middle school. Had you asked my opinion of this in the summer of 1972, I would have breath a tremendous sigh of relief. But today I wonder how this policy will leave them wanting in ways that have nothing whatsoever to do with... say, personal hygiene or body odor...