One Shouldn't Have to be Told--Take a Shower, Man!

 Prisons are, by their very nature, dirty and stinky places to live. Whenever you pack hundreds of people together in the same living space, it's bound to be noxious. Yep, the showers are free, and they'll even give you some cheap soap for free if you need it. But despite the need, some men just refuse to shower on a regular basis. 

I get it. Prisoners have been hit with skyrocketing store prices, just like everyone else. Deodorant is expensive. Toothpaste is expensive. Still, you'd think those essentials would be a higher priority for prisoners than a ramen noodle or a bag of chips. Sadly, for many, they are not. 

A little more than a month ago, a man rode into the housing unit where I am housed. He locks just a few cells away, and I have to pass his cell anytime I leave my cell. And he stinks, very, very bad. He's also a bit older than I am, so he ought to know better. Frankly, anyone who calls himself a grown man should know better. 

After several days of holding my breath every time I passed his cell, I couldn't take it any longer. 

"Excuse me," I began, speaking to him for the first time ever. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful or rude, but you really need to take a shower. I have a bar of soap down here that you can have if you need it."

I can't believe I'm actually having to tell a grown man to take a shower! It's embarrassing, for me, but probably also for him. He assured me he had things under control and didn't need my soap. I was highly skeptical because it didn't smell like things were under control, but I did what I could. 

The next day, to my surprise, the man showered, shaved, and changed his clothes, for the first time in over a month. The stench wafting from his cell disappeared, and I was pleasantly surprised that he'd turned a corner. He also started a job in the kitchen the day after that, making me doubly grateful for his recent shower. 

My joy was short-lived. 

The stench is again wafting from his cell. I'm not sure, but I think that shower a couple of weeks ago was the last he took. And I'm not sure he's changed his clothes since then either. His kitchen job lasted only a day or two. Rumor has it he was fired for his stench, but that could be just a cruel prison rumor. Though, sometimes rumors are based in an element of truth. 

It seems pointless to tell the man again to shower, but I know I'm not the only one who holds his breath when passing the man's cell. In the past, corrections officers would have made a man take a shower if he smelled that bad. The ones here don't seem to care. 

Sadly, this man is not the only one who is shower-phobic. Every day, at least once a day, I am overcome by the stench of someone's B.O. And when it's not B.O., it's the unflushed toilet downstairs, the gaseous emissions from dozens of men, or the smell of burning ramen noodles. 

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss my lack of smell after having Covid. 

A grown man shouldn't have to be told to shower. Or to give a courtesy flush. Or to be considerate in a myriad of other ways to those around them. Perhaps I'm simply asking too much. Or maybe some men just need to be re-parented.