From Jones

At the request of my friend Jones (her name is Kathryn, but she's just Jones) I am adding the following:
"Could I recommend that a future blog be on people who have 60 minute DAILY shower/facial/beauty regimen that they insist on performing even while deployed and everyone has to share the same facilities. Maybe you don't have to deal with that. Maybe you are one of those people. But I did have to deal with those shenanigans and by the end of my tour I just wanted to rip open the shower curtain and yell "REALLY?" as they were making all kinds of strange/disgusting/alien sounds that NOBODY want to hear in the shower. However you can't yell at people while they are IN the shower because then you are labeled the crazy person who violates people's privacy in the shower/latrine. And quite frankly, that trumps any weirdo sounds or beauty practices by people who can stretch a 10 minute shower into a 60 minute ordeal (for everyone!)...damn."

Now, let me explain: Jones has one of those short hair cuts that you run a towel over, maybe put a little gel in, and go. She's also very low maintenance (I mean that in the nicest of ways), so her beauty regime consists of soap and shampoo. For the rest of us, it's a little more involved than that. As for the sounds, I have to shower in a 3' x 3' tin container...YOU try washing all your parts when your elbows are banging against the walls and see if you don't make any noises. Also, the shower heads are like a foot over MY head, so I don't know what the short people have to do.

That being said, you learn a lot about the personal hygiene practices of people when you have to share facilities w/them. For instance, I walked in one day to find a girl SITTING in the sink popping zits (ew). REALLY? Buy a mirror w/the 10x magnification and do that in your room. There are girls here who look like they should be going out on a date. I wear makeup, don't get me wrong, but it's mostly so I don't blind people when the sun flashes off my paleness, but these girls go full out AND get their hair did (not really, they do it themselves, but it's just as involved). THAT is a little ridiculous. I bet they wear red lace thongs too.

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