To find this bizarre? Friend and soap

A friend came around earlier as I had a half day. Before she left, she said she was just popping to the loo. I then heard her call a minute later, “Splodge? There’s no soap”.

I have a dispenser, so I assumed it had run out and called back that there was some on the side of the bath. There was a pause and she called back, “No, not here”. I knew it was there so replied, “Just against the wall, behind the shower screen”. Again, a pause before a bewildered “No…”

I was completely confused now, as I knew very well it was there. I went through to the hall and she was standing in the doorway looking baffled. I went in, looked behind the screen and sure enough, there it was. I handed it to her and said, “Here, see?”

She burst out laughing and said, “Ohhhhh!! It’s shower gel!!” I was a bit confused and replied, “Well yes; soap, shower gel… whatever”. She was smiling at me a bit like I was a child who’d made a comical mistake. She said, “You said soap. This is shower gel. Show-er gel.” With the last bit really slowly, like she wasn’t sure English was my first language.

I was really taken aback. Who is this bizarrely literal? Surely it’s all pretty much the same thing? I thought maybe she was looking for a bar of soap and this was what had confused her somehow, but surely when you couldn’t see it you’d think “it must be the stuff in the bottle”? And even if you didn’t, wouldn’t you just have used the shower gel anyway?

I’ve never noticed her take things so literally before. Is it me or is this just really odd?!

Shower gel isn't usually anti bacterial so I prefer hand soap, but obviously shower gel would do. But I wouldn't go fishing about in the shower looking for it in someone else's house, so I'd mention it. What an odd system. Just buy some flipping soap.

@SplodgePocket your title is misleading, it should read Friend and Shower Gel

And upon finding shower gel there, rather than bleach, acid or a pint of snakebite, the next step would have been…?

You touch the pump dispenser, but you don’t usually roll the dispenser in your hands…

Also, not everything is aseptic. Most clinical procedures I perform aren’t. The aim is clean, but infection control would quite rightly read us the riot act if they discovered a bar of soap in a clinical area. Current IPC guidelines (you can look them up for yourself) explicitly state that bar soap is not acceptable.

A friend came around earlier as I had a half day. Before she left, she said she was just popping to the loo. I then heard her call a minute later, “Splodge? There’s no soap”.

I have a dispenser, so I assumed it had run out and called back that there was some on the side of the bath. There was a pause and she called back, “No, not here”. I knew it was there so replied, “Just against the wall, behind the shower screen”. Again, a pause before a bewildered “No…”

I was completely confused now, as I knew very well it was there. I went through to the hall and she was standing in the doorway looking baffled. I went in, looked behind the screen and sure enough, there it was. I handed it to her and said, “Here, see?”

She burst out laughing and said, “Ohhhhh!! It’s shower gel!!” I was a bit confused and replied, “Well yes; soap, shower gel… whatever”. She was smiling at me a bit like I was a child who’d made a comical mistake. She said, “You said soap. This is shower gel. Show-er gel.” With the last bit really slowly, like she wasn’t sure English was my first language.

I was really taken aback. Who is this bizarrely literal? Surely it’s all pretty much the same thing? I thought maybe she was looking for a bar of soap and this was what had confused her somehow, but surely when you couldn’t see it you’d think “it must be the stuff in the bottle”? And even if you didn’t, wouldn’t you just have used the shower gel anyway?

I’ve never noticed her take things so literally before. Is it me or is this just really odd?!

Maybe she's on edge and worried about Splodge's reaction/criticism if she assumes and then discovers that she misunderstood what Splodge was trying to direct her to do, but without bothering/refusing to simply say "Use the shower gel - it's the same thing".

Going on this thread, OP is very much coming across as, shall we say, an extremely 'assertive' person; she reminds me of the sort who would proudly declare that they 'don't suffer fools gladly'.

And upon finding shower gel there, rather than bleach, acid or a pint of snakebite, the next step would have been…?

And upon finding shower gel there, rather than bleach, acid or a pint of snakebite, the next step would have been…?

I honestly don’t understand how people can be this obtuse. It’s literally in the opening post!!!

I told her it was on the side of the bath behind the shower screen. I did NOT expect her to guess. There was literally only one bottle there (and just in case you’re still confused somehow, that’s what I meant by “there” - the exact place I described.)

Let's ignore for the moment whether my friend should have known I meant the shower gel. The instruction “On the side of the bath behind the shower screen” is pretty unambiguous. You can’t claim she might have thought I meant in the cupboard, or in a different room.

That's what I gathered, but wasn't certain.

In which case, who would design a refillable dispenser without even a window to monitor the level of the contents? That's 'Design 101'!

If you do buy one that is poorly designed in this way, surely you would know that you'd have to make sure to open it up to check the level regularly?

I have bar soap next to my sink. I wouldn't want people putting dirty hands on my shower gel... And it wouldn't cross my mind to use shower gel to wash my hands on someone's bathroom, sorry.

When it was literally the only thing there? It wouldn’t occur to you?

That's what I gathered, but wasn't certain.

In which case, who would design a refillable dispenser without even a window to monitor the level of the contents? That's 'Design 101'!

If you do buy one that is poorly designed in this way, surely you would know that you'd have to make sure to open it up to check the level regularly?

As OP keeps saying that shower gel and handwash are the same thing, why wouldn't she have filled up the empty dispenser from the shower gel bottle once she used the last of it?

But the whole point is that I didn’t know it was empty!

Get help for your soap obsession!!