It feels good to be clean, to be fresh, smooth, smelling like a rose, awash in cologne or perfume. We were all taught that we must always be clean, although it wasn’t always possible while growing up. As young boys we were always romping outside, playing in the dirt and mud, digging up earthworms to go fishing, playing football, fixing bicycles and generally doing dirty things that boys indulge in, much unlike what boys do nowadays, who are glued to their electronic devices.
What are little boys made up, frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. We reveled in dirt. As opposed to girls who were made of sugar and spice and everything nice. Girls were prone to cleanliness. Ah girls, that’s when we started to pay attention to being clean. That’s when the frequent showers cascaded down our backs, our hair washed regularly, teeth brushed until gleaming, and Old Spice cologne completed the ablutions.
But being clean wasn’t always in vogue. In fact, in medieval Europe people hardly ever took baths, and it’s reputed that Queen Victoria never ever bathed, until she eventually took one that led to her demise. Back in the wild west in the cowboy era, there were bath houses that were utilized from time to time, if ever at all by some cowpokes.
Fast forward to the news about this Iranian man, Amou Haji, who hadn’t bathed in over sixty years. He died shortly after taking his first shower, suffering the same fate as Queen Victoria. Vagrants and homeless persons roaming the streets haven’t taken a bath in years, and yet they appear to be as healthy as horses, never getting sick even one day of their smelly lives.
Do some people take cleanliness too far, or are they on the right track? While discussing the topic, a lady told me that she showers three times a day and washes her hair every two days.
She wears her clothes only once before washing them, and changes her pillow cases and bed sheets every two days. Needless to say, her laundry bills are enormous. Do the math, seven days a week, thirty days a month, changing and washing clothes, plus household laundry. Is she taking cleanliness too far?
She admits that sometimes she gets up in the middle of the night to do housecleaning and dusting. Is she borderline OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
or full blown? After all, they do say that we should be exposed to a little dirt and grime to build up our immunity to all sorts of diseases.
I told her that she’d have a hard time living with a man, as her obsession with cleanliness would drive most men crazy. I was accurate with my assessment, for she confessed that her last boyfriend always complained, saying, “Every time I made a move, she had to go and take a bath first.” There was no spontaneity.
At least she’s clean, but manless, unless she can find a man of equal predisposition, who enjoys taking three or four showers a day and washing his hair every day. Sometimes a man can smell too much like a woman though, too perfumed, too dainty, too much like a dandy.
That being said, a woman is supposed to be clean and smell good, and there is no greater turn off than a female who is dirty and smelly. That’s why the cosmetic, hygiene and feminine products industry is a multi billion dollar one. There are more than enough soaps and perfumes in the world to fulfill all the needs of women. So whereas a man can get away with being a little dirty sometimes, a woman dare not.
That’s why some women make it a point of duty to advertise that they are clean by s liberally sprinkling copious amounts of powder on their neck, chest and back before venturing out, just to let the world know that they had a bath and are fresh.
So it’s good to be clean, but don’t take it to the extreme.
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