Why apartment maintenance and showers don't mix

As a rule of thumb, one should try to avoid fixing things when one is in the shower. I don't know why no one ever informed me of this fact, but it is something I learned quite quickly this morning.

I was in the middle of soaping up my hair in the shower this morning, when through the stream of suds running into my eyes, I glimpsed my shower shelf leaning precariously to one side. This quite distressed me, because last weekend when I cleaned the bathroom I adjusted that same shelf. It is actually a set of four shelves on a tension rod that stand in the corner of the shower to hold all the millions of products I use. Anyway, I had just adjusted the stupid thing last weekend, and this morning, I saw that it was leaning again. I was quite perplexed by this, since it is relatively new and I didn't think there was anything wrong with the spring and/or the tension. Being an industrious and independent woman, I decided that I would climb up on the ledge of the bathtub to fix the crooked implement right then. I cautiously perched on the sides of the tub, being careful not to step on the slippery curtain and kept one hand securely on the side of the shower wall. I grasped the top of the rod with my right hand and gave it a gentle tug. It didn't budge. Mildly irritated, I took hold of the rod with both hands and tugged on it. Still nothing. Grumbling to myself, I readjusted my stance and my grip and pulled on the top section. When the stopper on the top suddenly came loose from the ceiling, I was unprepared for it to move so quickly, and it disrupted my balance from my precarious perch. I shrieked as the tension rod, four shelves, their various contents of mixtures and potions, and my soapy behind ended up on the floor of the tub in a heap, with the shower continuing to rain down on top of me. Stunned, I laid there for a minute wondering how all this had occurred, when I heard a tenuous "Are you ok?" from the other side of the wall. Yeah. I am fine. Fabulous actually. Never been better.

After reassembling my shower, I looked at the rod with satisfaction. It was straight. I got out of the tub and toweled off, and when my mirror managed to clear up, I did a double take. I turned around to see my lovely tension shelf was leaning to one side. I stepped back into the tub, and it looked straight again. Slowly the realization hit me. I adjusted the shelf last weekend when I was cleaning the bathroom. My tension shower shelf unit was not to blame for being crooked. I was. And at that moment, in the back of my mind a little voice said, "you can straighten that really quick." My eyes opened very wide at the thought of what I was about to do, and I turned and ran out of the bathroom.

Apartment maintenance and showers don't mix.