Question 79
For $20,000 would you go for three months without washing, brushing your teeth, or using deodorant? Assume you could not explain your reasons to anyone, and that there would be no long-term effect on your career.
Ewww. No! Absolutely, unequivocally, without a doubt, no. Not even for ten times that amount. Heck, even the scrungy castaways on Survivor, who are only marooned for 39 days and are playing for $1 million, get to splash around in the ocean and pick their teeth with sticks.
I admit to being a bit of a clean freak. I can’t stand to go 24 hours without a shower (two days of sponge-bathing after knee surgery was torture). My teeth feel fuzzy now, just thinking about not brushing for three months. And the days of going without deodorant without causing offense have long since past.
While I do care what other people think of me, not being able to explain my sudden lack of hygiene would take a back seat to my disgust with myself. Even if I had no career and no other reason to step outside my house in those three months, even if I was guaranteed not to have to be in contact with another living soul, I could not stop bathing, brushing, and deodorizing. I’d be crawling out of my skin in less than a week.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear Mr. Bubbles calling me.
Gregory Stock, what on earth were you thinking when you compiled The Book of Questions? Some of these questions are just gross!
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Posts I commented on today:
Benefits of Trimming Your Tomato Plants (Joe’s Musings)
Silly Seagull (Northwest Photographer)
Road Trip (Chalk Outlines) new blog of the day
Things I See and Know 
helenrj
May 9, 2013 at 6:37 PM
Well, it depends on the exact meaning of:
“without washing”….I’d find a way to cleanse via salt and olive oil….i’d get around it or I could invent a real Fremen desert suit like in Dune.
“brushing teeth” …is rinsing okay with water kosher?…plus chewing mint, and swishing with mouth products.
“using deodorant”…what about swabbing with alcohol?
I may be able to tolerate it if I could use the $20,000 to self-publish and run a publicity campaign…that is after I was able to wash, brush the scum off the molars, and grab my Secret deodorant.
dreaminofobx
May 10, 2013 at 5:13 PM
I still don’t know how long I could manage with those stop-gap measures. Think Lysol wipes have long-term effects on the skin?
Josie Two Shoes
May 11, 2013 at 5:31 PM
Ewwww, I so agree with your thoughts on this! Ocassionally I will be a Saturday or Sunday slug and now shower, but I still wash up a bit, toothbrush and deodorant are a MUST HAVE. It’s not just about other who would have the misfortune to be around me… like you, it’s that I couldn’t stand to be around myself and feel yucky. Speaking of which, think I’ll go brush my teeth right now! 🙂
dreaminofobx
May 15, 2013 at 7:43 PM
Many Sundays, especially the rainy ones during the winter, I wake up planning to spend the whole day in my jammies…but I’m always in the shower right after breakfast so I feel clean, even if I look like a slug.
Josie Two Shoes
May 11, 2013 at 5:32 PM
PS – I’m also pretty sure that if your family, friends, or coworkers noticed this sudden lack of hygiene, which surely wouldn’t take long, they’d soon be suggesting therapy sessions!
dreaminofobx
May 15, 2013 at 7:41 PM
No doubt! 🙂