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The One With the Washcloths

 Alright so this is going to be the first of my stories or just funny things that happen to me while I'm in the UK that make me smile and I hope you get as much of a kick reading about it as I did experiencing it. 

So this takes place my first day in London. When I get into my hotel I head straight to bed once I unpacked to take a nap because I didn't sleep very well on the flight (typical crying children on the plane). When I woke up, I stumbled to the shower, hung up the towel, and switched on the water. It was only once I was reaching for the washcloth that I realised that there was no washcloth or anything that remotely resembled a washcloth. So I had to just lather the soap and put it on by hand. After I finished getting ready, I promptly went to the front desk at the hotel and asked the employee if I could have a washcloth as there wasn't one in my room. She looked at me in a very confused glance and replied, "I'm sorry, but we don't have any." I was shocked, it wasn't an accident and they forgot to give me one, they just didn't have any. Was I supposed to bring my own? I didn't know. So that evening I took a quick walk over to a household goods store about a block away (I'm in London, just about everything is a block away), and grabbed one for £1 from the shelf. I walked over to the man at the till and handed him a £5 note. The guy looked at me and said "I'm sorry, but I don't have any change right now, you wouldn't happen to have exact change?" I did at the hotel, so I put the washcloth down and ran back to the hotel and grabbed two 50p pieces. (British money works just about the same as American money £1 = $1.30, 100p = £1) I returned to the shop and paid the cashier. When I called Will the next day I asked him about whether it is a common thing in the UK to use a washcloth and he asked "Is that a flannel? Yeah no we generally don't use those." I then asked what they use instead and his reply was "Well we just put the soap on my hands and lather it up I guess." So that, ladies and gents, is how I found out that in the UK they don't use washcloths and it still blows my mind. 

My friends from the UK and other European countries, feel free to make some comments as to whether this is commonplace or whether it's mainly a London / Southeast thing or it's more prevalent.


Update: So I guess that a bunch of Americans don't use them either and it kind of blows my mind. I have always used a washcloth and I'm just baffled. Thanks to everyone who sent me a message. I guess enjoy the story then.

Cheers!

Tymon

Location: London, UK

Comments

  1. tongaladOctober 23, 2020 at 2:18 PM

    Washcloths? Ha! Not in Scotland bro.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 23, 2020 at 3:35 PM

    Right, Angela clued me in years ago. Still seems strange.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JeffOctober 23, 2020 at 6:10 PM

    Next time ask for a napkin...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Angie T.December 10, 2020 at 3:48 AM

    Hi Tymon, I heard through the family grapevine that you have a blog and I thought I'd check it out, very enjoyable read! Sorry, I could have warned you about the wash cloth situation but didn't think to. Some may not use washcloths here but others bring their own. After forgetting that hotels don't provide them many, many times it has now become habit for me to pack some for me and the girls when we go away. My husband always packs his own because, being English, he is aware that they will not be provided but he often forgot to remind me! My husband's family call them flannels, don't know if that is the same UK wide. How about the separate hot and cold taps, have you experienced those yet? I find them so irritating and can't understand why people still have them installed! You either have to burn your hands off or freeze them, or resort to moving them back and forth between the two taps in an effort to mix the water yourself, which doesn't really work very well!

    ReplyDelete

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