I remember the time i stood standing in the shower. The water pouring over me. It was weeks before i was going to be living in a 3rd world country and i felt so grateful for the water. I felt such immense emotion over the fact that i had seemingly unending water pouring down over me at the turn of a knob. I knew in the years to come i would not have this. I knew that i’d be hauling my own water from the well for 27 months, sponge bathing from a bucket in a climate as hot as hell.
I also remember standing above that bucket in the bathroom. Using my hands to splash water over my salt-laden body. It felt so cool. I kept my mouth shut remembering my place. My stomach didn’t have these bacteria. A slight miss and i’d regret it for days. It was so much harder to get my back. I felt my back must have had layers of grime out of my reach. Splashing up in general was difficult, but you worked at the areas that mattered most.
During the height of Covid (or maybe not), I was incredibly thankful to have any water at all. 1st world countries didn’t have public wells you could grab water from and sneak into a bush area to bath oneself. It was seemingly as hot as those Africa days but i had a friend, a friend who gave me the refuge of running water.
I stand in a shower today, feeling so grateful for the freezing cold water. I bask it in. asking it to bring down my internal temperatures and knowing my tolerance is far greater than i withstand. And i realize, even these days could come to an end. I realize that although we expect water to flow, that possibly…in my lifetime, i could experience a world where water doesn’t come at all. Forget about hot. Forget about cold. I should remain grateful. Because the world we live in doesn’t give freely to all humans. The world we live in doesn’t view all humans as deserving of water, or food. We are moving toward a hunger games, a divergence, brave new worlds, a tale of handmaid’s, maze runners, and Ender.
In fact, we are already there.