debate exposes [costanza]

i've had the privilege of being part of a great summer camp for the past ten years. the reason i continue to volunteer, is because i truly believe in the goal of the camp, which is helping high school students learn "how to think", not "what to think". just a few of this year's panels included a discussion on global warming, as well as privacy rights in the media. that in itself would be a worthy blog entry. little did i know, however, an event would take place this past weekend, so "seinfeld-ish" it made me question the way i think, and wonder if i was slowly becoming george costanza.

as an adult facilitator, i shared a dorm room with three other guys. as the dorms were set up as suites, we had two rooms that shared a bathroom. waking up friday morning, i jumped in the shower to start my day. noticing all the other shampoo's and soaps lined up on the shelf, i was intrigued when i saw some "axe" shower gel. now, even though i do find axe's commercials extremely sophomoric, hence the reason i had never purchased it before, i was curious to try a little sample of it. so i ditched my "old spice" gel, and tried the axe. i was surprised when i found it so extremely refreshing! leaving the shower and getting dressed, i asked the guys, "who had the axe"? finding out it was my friend ray's, i informed him i had tried it, and complemented him on his choice of soap, and continued on my day, not thinking much of it.

through out the day, i was continually complemented on the way i smelled! ten different people, ten different locations, women......and men, complimented me on my scent. i slowly put these two events together and realized the only difference between today and the other five years of my life since i've been complemented on the way i smelled, was ray's shower gel!

after the camp was over sunday afternoon, the staff went to grab a bite to eat before heading to our respective parts of the state. during dinner, "my pleasing scent" was brought up in conversation again, where i informed everyone it must have been ray's, body gel. i then included, that my favorite part about sharing a shower, was trying out other soaps, shampoo's and conditioners...

now it's hard to describe the exact look on every one's face at the table, but about half the people were laughing so hard they were crying and the other half was in pure shock!

"you actually use other people's shampoos and soaps!?!"

"yeah, doesn't everyone?"

"no!"

now i'm confused. i really thought i was in the "right" here. as a guest in some one's house, i thought you were more then welcome to use the various products they had. this is how i've discovered nearly every product i use today. is this not a great way to try products you wouldn't normally buy? i thought everyone did this! i fully expect people to try my assortment of shower accoutrement's when visiting. is this taboo? is this some social more' i've been breaking the past twenty years of my life?

when using someone else's shower, is it a "bath and body" buffet for you to enjoy? or is everything off limits. and even if you bring your own shampoo, are you entitled to try something new if you see it? what are the rules here?

i'm relating this story at the expense of my own embarrassment, because i need to know. if this is wrong, please, please, tell me and i'll stop....

but not before picking up some axe "groove" shower gel.