Sharing a bathroom with family can be tough, but it’s even worse when one family member enforces bizarre, strict rules.
So, what would you do if your dad used the same dirty mop after every bath and then refused to let anyone touch it, even when cleaning the house?
In the following story, a family finds themselves in this unusual predicament.
Here’s what happened.
The Mop
We have 1 bathroom at home, and the bathroom has a bathtub and one of those shower handles.
So, my dad is a splasher when it comes to taking baths. If you go in the bathroom after him, it looks like a flood just went by.
We are not in a position to question him as he either yells and throws things or takes it out on my mum by giving her the silent treatment (sorry, mum. You married a prince huh).
So he confiscated a mop to wipe the floor after bathing.
But here’s the thing, actually, here’s two things:
- He doesn’t want ANYONE to touch, much less use that mop. No, he doesn’t wash or dry the mop. It lives in the bathroom
- He takes at least three baths a day.
They began protecting their mop.
We end up buying a new mop.
Once HIS mop has finally disintegrated, he will confiscate the new mop and we will buy a new mop for the house.
On and on.
My sister took HIS mop and washed it with bleach and took it out to dry in the sun. Dad did not speak to any of us and went to bed without supper. 😒 👶
No one touched HIS mop again, so my siblings and I started hiding the new mop at our neighbour’s house to keep it safe.
He still doesn’t know about it.
Visitors were coming, so he insisted the house get cleaned.
But we all know what happens when a wet mop stays wet in a closed, moist environment.
The mop has sat in the bathroom collecting who knows what, and he just used it to paint over the splashed water after he showers.
Yesterday, he had visitors from church, so he demanded we clean the house.
We cleaned everywhere but the bathroom because we are not allowed to touch THE mop.
Ten minutes before the guests showed up, he freaked out and asked why the bathroom still looked so disgusting.
Panicked, he didn’t even bother taking the dirty mop outside.
“But father, you said no one is to touch your mop.” My youngest sister replied with the fakest of innocent looks.
The funny thing is, Dad, didn’t even think to just take the smelly mop outside.
He had to live through his guests using the bathroom with a moldy, smelly mop.
Eew. That mop must smell terrible.
Let’s see what the fine folks over at Reddit had to say about this behavior.
This person can relate.
As this person points out, it does seem like a type of abuse.
Too true! The dad would probably lose his mind, though.
Something needs to give.
This is an unsustainable system that no one should have to deal with.
If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.