Taking a shower with a target on your back

Have you ever thought what it would be like to take a shower when you are in Hizbollah's or Hamas's crosshairs?

I know I am not unique. I have the feeling that every time there is an alert in the country, there are a few people caught in the shower and kids in the bath. I have the feeling that many in the usual target practice zones wonder if ‘today will be the day’ they will be caught naked having to run for shelter each time they run the bath for their kids or turn on the shower.

Image Credit: Combination of two images from the public domain site, Pixabay.

It did happen to me once, well, indirectly to me. I was living in Rehovot during the May 2021 war against Hamas when about 4400 missiles were launched from Gaza at southern and central Israel. There were frequent alerts in Rehovot and the region; one time when my grandkids were with me, happily playing in the bubble bath, we heard it.

Suddenly the air was broken by the wail of the siren and the kids stood up quietly and calmly, waiting for instruction from me. All soapy, they carefully got out of the bath with my help and walked to our safe spot (an inner cupboard with no outside walls or windows) to sit on the blanket I put down for them on the floor at my feet, each wrapped in their own towels.

I marveled at their calm. Then there was a boom that I just KNEW was a hit and not an interception. It was loud and relatively close and the windows rattled a bit. Ambulance and police sirens quickly followed. The kids were totally unperturbed because nothing happened to us. After the requisite time, we went out of the safe spot, they dressed, and we played until it was time for them to go home, as if nothing had happened.

But something had happened.

There was a direct hit on an apartment two blocks from me and one person was killed.

I think of that every time I take a shower over this past year. I also think of friends who have to leave their apartments and go to a public shelter either in the basement or on the floor of their highrise buildings. I imagine them getting caught in the shower and meeting their neighbours in a towel — or, better, in bathrobe if they have one.

I’m lucky. My safe spot is in my own apartment. But still, in case there may be damage to the apartment from shrapnel at best, a direct hit at worst, I make sure I am not found with just a towel to barely cover my nakedness. Before going into the shower, therefore, I make sure to have my bathing suit cover (I have no bathrobe) hanging on the sink by the shower. My smartphone is there as well so I don’t have to look for it in the jolt of the moment. Everything else important is already stored in my safe spot.

I put up a post on Facebook asking my Israeli friends what they do about showers during wartime and set off for lunch with friends. I expected there would be answers waiting for me upon my return.

At lunch, the sounds of interceptions in the distance changed the direction of our conversation; I burst out with the question: what do you do about showers? General laughter followed my question and most of the women acknowledged shorter showers and making sure there was a bathrobe with them in the bathroom, something they did not do before the war.

One woman told us that she and her husband wait a respectable time after a barrage in the area and not necessarily the immediate area, perhaps going by our experience that we are not targetted twice in rapid succession.

There were answers under my Facebook post when I got home. These are some examples:

• Naomi: First I make sure to close the stove or gas if anything is cooking. Ever since the handle fell off the bathroom door I always take my cell phone with me. But now also my clothes and shoes.

• Marc Dver: When I am particularly concerned, I do a navy shower. [defined below] That is good enough to make sure I am clean enough if I meet a cute young lady in the local bomb shelter.

  You can quote and name me, emphasizing that I am both responsible and available

• Sylvie: Well versed - Bring telephone to hear the alerts even with head under water and invest in a large bathrobe …. Ah — yes, footwear if there is no Mamad!! Good call by another commenter.

• Linda: Have clothes and slippers that are easy to slip on, and keys and phone all within reach of the tub. I have to run down two flights of stairs to get to our building’s shelter. [Me: If I had to run down two flights of stairs, I might consider taking bucket baths in the shelter and already be in place if an alarm went off.]

• Lise: Have everything you need at hand, both for showering efficiently and for dressing fast. No daydreaming. Promise yourself a leisurely bubble bath with champagne when the war is over—or at least in another stage.

• Ilana: Haha. I have been caught a few times in the shower, on the loo, no time to put on flipflops for sure. I lay a few towels outside the bathroom to the stairs, so I dont slip. Toilet paper is torn into the right sized pieces to stuff in underwear, etc etc [Me: WOW. I have wondered what I would do if caught on the loo but never got beyond a momentary wondering. Now I know. Thank’s Ilana. See what we have to consider?]

• Adelle: So here's how I do it, when I am in my home, a mile away from the border with the Gaza Strip: I spread out a towel on the sink next to the shower (quicker to grab than from the towel rack), have a towel on the floor to dry my feet and prevent slipping. When the alarm sounds, I jump out of the shower, grab the towel and wrap it around me while running. I usually make it to the saferoom by the time I hear the explosion. (Don't always have time to slam the saferoom door behind me). Boom. [Whew!]

• Beth: Ashkelon -- in case I'm in the shower or pj's, I keep a change of clothes, deodorant, comb and flip flops in the mamad. If my house gets hit, I don't want to be in my bday suit!! [Good thinking. I’m going to put a change of clothes and such in my safe spot.]

• Shaine: I just do it. But my younger daughter (10) after being caught now twice is very nervous to take a shower.

• Anonymous: [shower in] a bathing suit? [I think this man has not yet faced this situation but it is something to consider]

• Anonymous: I think there are two clubs most of us have joined including myself!.." Caught in the shower" and "Caught on the loo"...I just take a philosophical view, get on with whichever and hope for the best!

Not exactly a shower item, but thought this might add to the sense of what can happen while pretending life is normal; Chana wrote:

My daughter was inadvertantly locked into a second hand store during a recent azaka [alert]. Not even Hizbollah can stop my vintage shopper.

‘Navy shower,’ was defined in a separate comment when Marc was questioned about it:

… a very quick shower whose main goal is to conserve water but also happens to be fast. It consists of these stages:

1. Turn on the water.
2. Rinse the entire body with water.
3. Turn off the water.
4. Soap down the entire body.
5. Rinse the entire body.

Not only does it save time, but it minimizes the time it can be too dangerous to leave the shower.

Good to know. Thanks, Marc.

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