Cannot even shower in peace in the morning
byu/EnvironmentalMine577 inaskSingapore
SINGAPORE: A 17-year-old girl took to social media on Tuesday (April 22) to vent her frustration over her family’s financial struggles and how these have disrupted daily life at home. In her post, she shared that, after she expressed a desire to start showering in the mornings instead of only at night, her 60-year-old father began turning off the water heater and lights while she was in the shower—all in the name of saving on electricity. His justification? He is the one paying the bills. The post got a response from people online. Many defended the cause of taking cold showers in the morning, while a few encouraged the young girl to find ways to work around the situation.
“Cannot even shower in peace in the morning.” This was the title of a post written by a teenager in a public forum. “To set the stage, recently, times have been tough, and my family is struggling financially,” she said. “My dad (60M) is sort of the sole breadwinner and has to feed five mouths.”
According to the teen, she usually only showers at night. However, debates about taking morning showers made her keen on taking a shower in the morning as well. “So lately I’ve been taking morning showers,” she shared. “But this means an extra set of clothes to be washed, the heater to be turned on and occasionally the lights when I have morning class.
“But with the electricity and water I’m using, it caused my dad to turn off the heater and lights while I’m showering and complain about how many clothes there are to wash now.”
Although she told her father about how cold the water gets, he “doesn’t care”, she claimed, as he is the one who pays the bills. “I get where he’s coming from,” she said. “But I also start to get cold and sick when I dry myself after showering. It’s affecting my physical health.”
She then turned to Singaporeans on the forum to ask for advice on how to get her father to stop complaining and turning off the hot water and the lights. “I just want to shower in the morning and not stink up the train,” she said.
Singaporeans respond with advice for cold showers
Surprisingly, many people who commented on her post shared the benefits of taking cold showers in the morning. According to Healthline, taking a cold shower comes with many benefits—from increasing endorphins to boosting metabolism and even aiding circulation. These factors can help the body have a stronger immune response.
Still, others urged her to understand her family situation and find alternatives to make things work. An older female took to the comments section to share that she was in the same situation in her teenage years. “If your family members are that particular, try alternatives to keep the peace,” she suggested. “To light up the toilet, you can turn on your phone flashlight and place it below a glass cup (or a see-through plastic cup) and place it somewhere in the toilet where it can’t get wet, it will be bright enough to shower…
“If you want to shower with warm water, get yourself a big bucket, boil water, and mix it with tap water, and get a smaller bucket with a longer handle to scoop the water out to shower. It’s just an extra 5-minute step to do in the morning. If there’s a will, there’s a way. Tell yourself you won’t be doing this forever, just temporarily, and be thankful you still have your father around.”
Featured image by Freepik/jcomp (for illustration purposes only)