Cleanliness:
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.
I pause for a moment to honor the fact that in Ben Franklin's time, bathtubs did not exist.
LOL! Time for a slightly lighter virtue.
We can pat our society on the back for advancing to a point where, compared to colonial folk, we are ALL models of cleanliness.
Pigs do not trot in and out of our dwellings. Under ordinary circumstances, our homes are free of animal poop.
Gentlemen no longer cover the floors with tobacco-spittle.
We bathe.
We wash our clothes after wearing them only once. This would have been almost impossible in Ben's time, working with washboards and primitive forms of soap.
Many of us wear deodorant that prevents us from developing even one day's worth of body odor.
We brush our teeth. With toothpaste. Every day. Most of us do not have a mouthful of rotting teeth to perfume the air around us.
Compared to Ben's friends, we are preternaturally clean.
So, here's our frivolous question of the day. Let's say that for some bizarre reason, you have to choose for all humanity to cease one form of cleanliness.
1) Never wash our clothes again, and own only two outfits, as in colonial times.
2) Never take a bath again.
3) Never brush our teeth again.
4) Never clean our homes again. That means no cleaning. None. No cleaning toilets, no cleaning food spills in the kitchen, etc., etc. Any form of soil in the home must stay. I'll still allow you the removal of garbage if you choose this option.
What is your terrible choice? :-)
10 comments:
Teeth. And we would all talk to each other from way, way across the room.
Great post, Rosslyn. For as much as we romanticize the "olden days" with petticoats and bonnets and the like, think of this: 90 degree days, no A/C, and no deodorant.
Not quite as romantic after one thinks of the scented air, right? ;)
Have a great day, Rosslyn!
I'd also go with teeth.
We don't all have to go back to Colonial times to recall the days of no A/C. Washing machines were here, but clothes were dried on a line.
I have no wish to go back in time when it comes to modern conveniences.
Blessings,
Susan :)
The idea of never cleaning is mighty appealing. I could do that! BUT ... I like living in a clean house. I have little desire to turn back the clock. Thanks for the stimulating reminder.
Oh man, do I really have to decide? If I must, definitely #4--don't really care that huge chore anyway and I could always move outside if things got too bad. But I must have clean clothes, bathe, and brush my teeth.
I'm not sure I could do any of these. If I don't shower in the morning, I'm in a bad mood all day. (It's best not to ask.)
I can't stand the film on my teeth when I wake up in the morning.
And think about all of the dead skin cells that would accumulate on fabric if you didn't wash your clothes. (Ick.)
And a dirty house? I guess this is the least of the four evils.
Thank goodness I don't really have to make this choice. :-)
If we pick "no teeth," could we still brush our teeth with twigs? I had mine cleaned by the dentist today--nice!
This is hard. I like to have clean teeth and a clean body. But then my clothes need to be clean. I guess I'd give up cleaning the house, although it would be hard. You see, my house is pretty clean too. But something has to go. I'm just glad I live in this day and age.
Never clean my home again.
I love baths, and the teeth thing would drive me crazy, and clean clothes too.
But I could probably live with a messy house. Kind of. :)
Very interesting responses!
I'm not quite sure why, but I think I would pick the clothes. I can't handle not bathing or brushing my teeth. No way. So I think I would rather not wash clothes than have to look at nasty toilets.
There's really no good answer, but thanks for humoring me! :-)
I'll go with the house, #4. I'm almost there now. (Just kidding. I'm only halfway there.) But I can't stand sticky teeth, and can't imagine being stinky when I'm trying to share Jesus' love.
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