Uh.. ya, don't do that....

[Dazi]

A friend asked me once about why I cut my hair off.  It used too be really long, but I haven't let it get past maybe mid-back for several years.

I had many reasons, but the one that got the most laughter was me saying "It's really nice not having to worry about it getting in the toilet".  Because I promise you, when you have nearly thigh legnth hair, it can be a problem.  No matter how carefully I pulled it forward, tied it up, braided it or whatever else I could do, at least once every few weeks, I'd miss a chunk or it would swing around when I stood up.

Until I was a senior in high school, my hair was never really ever longer than the top of my shoulder blades.  Even when it was, I was too short for it to ever get rolled up in a car window.  My best friend at the time did it once and I laughed myself silly at her.  Until later that year when I did the exact same thing.  The wind was blowing as I tried to roll up the window and I got my hair caught.  Admittedly not even being close to the toilet problem, but it did hurt.

I can't tell you how often I slammed it in a car door...and not notice until I started walking.   

[violinp]

A friend asked me once about why I cut my hair off.  It used too be really long, but I haven't let it get past maybe mid-back for several years.

I had many reasons, but the one that got the most laughter was me saying "It's really nice not having to worry about it getting in the toilet".  Because I promise you, when you have nearly thigh legnth hair, it can be a problem.  No matter how carefully I pulled it forward, tied it up, braided it or whatever else I could do, at least once every few weeks, I'd miss a chunk or it would swing around when I stood up.

Until I was a senior in high school, my hair was never really ever longer than the top of my shoulder blades.  Even when it was, I was too short for it to ever get rolled up in a car window.  My best friend at the time did it once and I laughed myself silly at her.  Until later that year when I did the exact same thing.  The wind was blowing as I tried to roll up the window and I got my hair caught.  Admittedly not even being close to the toilet problem, but it did hurt.

I can't tell you how often I slammed it in a car door...and not notice until I started walking.   

OW. This only confirms my wishes to get my hair in a bob cut.

[greencat]

I had butt-length hair until I was 14.  I got it cut to shoulder length and it's gone up and down from short spikes to mid-back since then.  However, I seem to have been in an endless cycle of getting my hair cut short, mourning the lack of styling choices, letting it grow out, and then getting annoyed with the maintenance required and hacking it off short again.

[Elfmama]

My MIL had a fit when I washed my hair in the shower.  I was supposed to wash it in the kitchen the way she did, sticking  my head under the faucet.  (Not one of the high-rise faucets, either, the one that barely clears the sides of the sink.)  I explained that I couldn't do that, because my butt-length hair would go down the drain.  (I didn't mention the horrible crick in the neck from doing that!)

"Well, so what! My hair goes down the drain, too." (MIL had the standard "old lady 'fro", held in place with so much hairspray that it was crispy-crackly.)

"I don't mean the hair that comes out.  I mean the hair still on my head. There's no point to washing it if it gets all slimy at the ends from the gunk in the drain. And I need another towel for my hair."

She was exceedingly miffed, and always assigned us specific towels after that.  I always got the old ragged ones that I would have used for bathing the dog. 

[greencat]

That one almost deserves a place in the brain-hurty thread - it kind of boggles my mind to have an opinion, much less a fit, about how someone else performs their ablutions, as long as everything gets clean, the personal property of others isn't being misused, and the bathroom is left clean!

[EmmaJ.]

Plus the ick factor of washing your hair in the kitchen - where food is prepared. 

I can handle a lot of things, but if I find a hair in my food, it takes all my willpower to not get physically sick.

[Elfmama]

That one almost deserves a place in the brain-hurty thread - it kind of boggles my mind to have an opinion, much less a fit, about how someone else performs their ablutions, as long as everything gets clean, the personal property of others isn't being misused, and the bathroom is left clean!

MIL was one of those persons who apparently believe that if you don't do things EXACTLY the way they do, you are criticizing them.  I don't remember a visit where she didn't have at least one hissy fit about something.

You know how a lot of senile people get more nasty and aggressive, because they no longer have the ability to self-censor?  MIL got just the opposite -- NICER as she got more senile!

[Sophia]

A friend asked me once about why I cut my hair off.  It used too be really long, but I haven't let it get past maybe mid-back for several years.

I had many reasons, but the one that got the most laughter was me saying "It's really nice not having to worry about it getting in the toilet".  Because I promise you, when you have nearly thigh legnth hair, it can be a problem.  No matter how carefully I pulled it forward, tied it up, braided it or whatever else I could do, at least once every few weeks, I'd miss a chunk or it would swing around when I stood up.

I've never told anyone this, but having to give serious thought to my hair while on the toilet is my trigger for "I need a trim"

[asb8]

My MIL had a fit when I washed my hair in the shower.  I was supposed to wash it in the kitchen the way she did, sticking  my head under the faucet.  (Not one of the high-rise faucets, either, the one that barely clears the sides of the sink.)  I explained that I couldn't do that, because my butt-length hair would go down the drain.  (I didn't mention the horrible crick in the neck from doing that!)

Why did people wash their hair in the kitchen sink, rather than in the bath or shower?  I remember reading about this in Beverly Cleary books and I've always wondered.

[Outdoor Girl]

I never used the kitchen sink but I grew up without a shower; we only had a bath tub.  And because we were on a well, a bath consisted of about an inch of water in the bottom.  Mom always helped me wash my hair, using a jug to pour water over my head.  She'd use the bathwater to wet it down and shampoo it then run fresh water to rinse it.

Eventually, we put in a hand held shower head and I'd wash my hair in the morning, leaning over the side of the tub.  I'd only have a bath 3 times a week, because of the limit on the amount of water we could use with the well.

So if MIL grew up similarly, it may be what she is used to.  But that doesn't explain why she insists anyone else needs to do it the same way!

The few times I've washed my hair in a kitchen sink, I've made a huge mess with water everywhere!

[kherbert05]

My MIL had a fit when I washed my hair in the shower.  I was supposed to wash it in the kitchen the way she did, sticking  my head under the faucet.  (Not one of the high-rise faucets, either, the one that barely clears the sides of the sink.)  I explained that I couldn't do that, because my butt-length hair would go down the drain.  (I didn't mention the horrible crick in the neck from doing that!)

Why did people wash their hair in the kitchen sink, rather than in the bath or shower?  I remember reading about this in Beverly Cleary books and I've always wondered.

My Mom did. I think in part it was habit. She had 9 siblings, and there was 1 bath and no shower in her childhood home. Also Mom nearly died several winters in a row from pneumonia (Mid 1940s). She was only allowed to wash her hair in the sink, with the oven providing extra heat. Then she had to stay there till they got her hair completely dried.

The sink area was cleaned/sterilized before and after. Mom was a chemist involved in medical research. Things like cleaning the kitchen were done to a very high standard. Double that when it came to measuring things for recipes.

[Sirius]

I've never ever had long hair.  I let it grow for two years one time, and it got down to about chin length, then started growing straight out.  I had dark auburn hair at the time, and I looked like a rusted tumbleweed.  Right now it's only a couple of inches long, and I like it that way.

[White Dragon]

Dear Relative-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless,

I am enjoying the ongoing gag we have where you borrow my phone and then return it with a sassy note on the front screen. It makes me chuckle.

What I am enjoying even more at the moment is...laughing at you.
Last night, it was really nice when the family gathered outside on blankets in the back yard to watch the meteor shower. 

Someone had the good idea to bring my tablet, so that we could use the Google Sky Map app and have fun figuring out the constellations.
It was even funny when we opened the app and found that a certain someone had changed the language option to Chinese. 

What was even funnier was when I smiled, handed it to you and told you to change it back. 
Your chagrined "I never expected it to come back and bite me" was amusing. 

But what was really, really funny was watching you try to change it back. Because apparently, utility menus are much, much harder to figure out when the headings have all be defaulted to Chinese. 

I'm still laughing.

Signed, your loving - and highly amused - relative. 

[Sophia]

...Why did people wash their hair in the kitchen sink, rather than in the bath or shower?  I remember reading about this in Beverly Cleary books and I've always wondered.

I have occasionally done it.  Usually when my hair has gotten really bad and I want to leave the conditioner in there a long time.  In a shower I would either waste a TON of water, or freeze to death. 

I know that it used to be common for women to wash and 'do' their hair once a week.  It might be if that were the case, you might want to spend extra extra time getting your hair really clean, and then it would be like when I use the sink. 

[ladyknight1]

My MIL had a fit when I washed my hair in the shower.  I was supposed to wash it in the kitchen the way she did, sticking  my head under the faucet.  (Not one of the high-rise faucets, either, the one that barely clears the sides of the sink.)  I explained that I couldn't do that, because my butt-length hair would go down the drain.  (I didn't mention the horrible crick in the neck from doing that!)

"Well, so what! My hair goes down the drain, too." (MIL had the standard "old lady 'fro", held in place with so much hairspray that it was crispy-crackly.)

"I don't mean the hair that comes out.  I mean the hair still on my head. There's no point to washing it if it gets all slimy at the ends from the gunk in the drain. And I need another towel for my hair."

She was exceedingly miffed, and always assigned us specific towels after that.  I always got the old ragged ones that I would have used for bathing the dog. 

Before I was born (I am the oldest), my mom was a beautician. As children, my sisters and I were subjected to lots and lots of perms. We were made to wash our hair in the kitchen sink. The kitchen sink that had a low faucet and you would hit your head on it every dang time.

I haven't had a perm in more than twenty-five years and I haven't washed my hair in the kitchen sink since I lived with my parents in my teens.

I have good, strong hair, but I have to wash it every other day or it looks oily to me. I clean the drain every time I shower to keep hair from building up.