every last drip

I never really thought about water before.  Water... what?  It comes out of the sink and shower whenever I want and on a good day I drink 4 glasses and feel bad about not drinking the healthy-person minimum of 8.  Sure, every now and then I would hear on the news that it hadn't rained enough and that homeowners could only water their lawns on certain days.  Stores were occasionally told not to use a turbo hose with enough force to knock over a delivery truck just to rid the sidewalk of a few bubble gum wrappers .  But no matter what, water still came out of the sink.  It was still neatly stacked in every corner store.  It was still nothing to think about.

When I moved to a place where it never rains - apart from the "rainy season," which only lasts a couple of months - I started to think about it.  I know, those of you living in a place where it rains all the time are probably thinking, Awesome!  But when it never rains, turning on the sink becomes a very different experience.  You watch the water escape down the drain and you start to think about it being gone.  You think of all the other things it could have been used for other than filling the time while I put the toothpaste on my toothbrush.  But it's just gone.

I'm a regular person.  But I'm a regular person who's been thinking about water lately.  And then I heard something that scared me so much that you know what I did?  I  ignored it.  I had to.  It was too scary to think about: "Water is the next oil."  I know this is not a new idea.  It's been said before.  But never to me while living in a place where it never rains.   Water is the next oil... Abort all thinking!  Abort all thinking!  Go to happy place!  And I did.   As I said, I'm a regular person.  Some things are just too big for me to handle.  I'm not a super hero.  I'm not even Angelina Jolie.

Then I saw something that someone posted on facebook.  A commercial from Brazil for peeing in the shower.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gESV9nTMBTc&feature=PlayList&p=A453E1C0FC5DF21C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=18

Peeing in the shower?  Is it a gross thing to do, yes.  But is it a super hero thing to do?  No.  Turns out, all the water from your toilet goes to the same place as the water from your shower.  And if you get any on your leg, well by gosh, there's a bar of soap at your fingertips.  And while you're giving your leg an extra scrub, you can get your mind off of what you just did by thinking about this: a regular Joe or Jane can save hundreds of gallons of water a year by peeing in the shower.  Isn't that gross... er, I mean... great?  Hey, just don't tell anyone you do it.  I'm certainly not going to!

So, as it turns out, it's possible to come out of my happy place stupor and still be happy even without being Bono or Angelina.  Hey, who knows if peeing in the shower is something they do?  Is it possible that this makes me an even better person than them?  (Don't answer that!)