Dusk was upon me as I pulled into the campground and set up my tent. I had made an early start from back East, changed planes, then drove a hundred miles north and a few thousand feet higher to reach the park. I was wiped out but I had promised myself I would keep my brand new sleeping bag clean for my girlfriend joining me this weekend: no spooge stains on it, no crumbs in it, and zero dust, grime or dirty hairs inside from my head or body. So after locking my snacks in the site's bear locker, I grabbed my towel, some clean clothes to change into, and my ziplock bag of toiletries and headed to the bathrooms.
The campground was pretty dark with only a few lamps here and there. I didn't see any fires but considering it was summer out West, I suppose they would have been a stupid idea. No doubt some folks find the park too dark, but I kinda like the new efforts not to obliterate the night sky with light pollution. From a distance, the bathhouse looked so quiet that I figured I'd be able to rub one out in the shower without making anyone wait in line or my worrying about a neighboring showerer seeing suspicious shadows under my stall.
My hunch was almost right. When I walked in, there was only one guy - or rather I saw one guy's feet visible below the toilet stall door. No problem, he was probably as worried about me hearing him drop one in the bowl as I was about him hearing me in the shower. But then, I saw the badly vandalized sign (why can't people treat public property as well as their own?) taped over the sink mirror...
FUUUUCCCKKKK!! Showers: $1.75 for 5 minutes. 25 cents for each minute more. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I just don't see pay showers back East. I guess I understand the water shortages out West and I really don't care that much about seven fucking quarters but I didn't have any at all. Had I driven my own car I might have a bunch of change in the ashtray, but I just picked up my rental car this afternoon. The store and visitor center are closed for the night. Why not provide a machine that takes singles? Is that asking too much?
The adrenaline was still racing through me over the bad news, but I decided while I was there I might as well trim my beard so the stubble won't end up in the sleeping ba——-FLUSH.
As I stared into the mirror holding my trimmer, out stepped the man who was taking a shit in the stall. He saw me standing by a sink and walked up in his shorts and a half marathon shirt carrying his own bag of toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. I had guessed that the sandals I had seen under the stall door were attached to a teenager trying to sneak away for a private dump or an old guy trying to escape his RV for a little peace and quiet. But this guy was somewhere in his 40s or 50s, with a head of gray hair, a tanned face, and nothing particularly antisocial in his expression. We nodded acknowledgement of one another's presence. He rummaged through his own shave kit and dug out a nose hair trimmer.
I asked myself, what the hell? And then opened my stupid mouth, "Hate to bother you, but is there any chance you could make change for $2? The store's closed."
"Sorry, dude," (I didn't know any men my own age group could call each other dude) "but my wife stole most of my quarters."
Well, shit. "In that case, is there any chance that if you finish showering before your shower stops running that I could I jump in?
He deactivated his nose hair trimmer but kept looking into the mirror without glancing my way. "There's a chance but I tend to take long showers. Always have. Ever since I was 14 and used to jerk off where no one could see me," Without making eye contact, he put the nose hair trimmer in his kit and grabbed his razor to smooth his neck. "But if you're asking for a favor, I don't mind helping you out but don't rush me."
"Thanks," I mumbled. I guess it was nice of him to technically offer to split his 5 minutes, but obviously he wanted his privacy and don't think he had any intention of finishing before his 5 minute shower ran out. Oh well, I'd just have to use my hand sanitizer in my car to do the best I could until tomorrow. Now that I think about it, I'll probably get dead skin, stray hairs and sweat on my girlfriend as soon as we make love, so one missed shower is no big deal.
"Alright then," he said still with no eye contact, just staring at his blade as if weighing whether to change it out. "If you want to make sure the hot water lasts, it'd probably work out best to take care of everything before turning it on."
Wait, what? He's interested? "Oh yeah, right, that makes sense." I started hurriedly fumbling through my kit to dig out my toothbrush and floss. But he interrupted me before I found both.