of floormates and showers: an observation

The eyes are windows to the soul, as the saying goes. For me, who lives on the similar floor as 12 other students and yet never really seeing them before (save for the Sarawakian dude and the Masters student from the A wing who’s Hairi’s roommate), I might say that I am able to deduce who they are from their little basket of toiletries.

You see, guys here may sometimes leave their toiletries basket out on the communal sink when they take a shower, or leave it in the pantry (it faces the toilet) during other times. Rarely a day goes by without me seeing one of these multicolored plastic containers on my way to filling up my kettle or going to the toilet. And yet, their owners are as rarely seen as the Hope Diamond itself. So I have come up with a little game of guess-the-owner with these holders of personal trinkets.

There is one pale blue basket with locally produced products: Safi Balqis face wash, Safi toothpaste and a bar of soap (brand not known). This may signal the common Malay dude who is just content with the basics, and quite possibly is wary of the Westernization (or specifically for them, the Jew-nization) that is happening subconsciously (sic). Oh, and it also means that he washes his hair with the aforementioned bar of soap. *gasp*

Another one, a purple basket filled with a 600ml bottle of sports body wash, a travel bottle of Rejoice shampoo, and L’Oreal for Men face wash. Obviously these products point towards the jock who takes cares of himself. The physical exercise benefits his lithe/buff/muscular physique (depending on sport) which he would secretly call “the engine”, while these products take care of the hygiene and smell of this “engine”. The miniscule bottle of shampoo also signifies what little hair he has on his shaved/closely-cropped head.

The really rare type: a basket filled with high end products, such as L’Occitane, the Body Shop or any other premium body care brands. This is rare because (a) no one would want to leave such expensive things out in the open and (b) it is rare that guys (specifically, students) would splurge on these products. These baskets signal the financially-loaded student who insists on letting only the best products touch his precious skin. Not that it’s a bad thing; these are the type of owners who leave the bathroom with an exotic and pleasant smell that is different from the standard smell of mildew, L’Oreal and Polo Sport.

Oh, there’s also the type of guy who owns no basket; he is content with going to and fro the bathroom with a shampoo on the first trip, a body wash/soap on the second, and a while later, going in with a face wash. They would leave a tell-tale trail of dripped water and the occasional puff of foam. It’s not surprising to run into these guys with face wash-foam or shampoo (or both) still clinging to the respective body parts.

Whatever these guys own, it reflects the difference that we all have; it adds color to the otherwise mundane and monotonous  life of a student, and it transcends race and religion.