Most of us have been in a situation similar to this: you open the shower curtain, pick up your caddy, and rapidly exit the bathroom, but not before seeing that girl on your floor you never really talk to. You make awkward eye contact because she’s the one that heard you singing that old One Direction song, but neither of you say anything because you were singing an old One Direction song. It’s fine.
1. You have to multitask.
Multitasking is second nature to us college students—it’s basically our job. But it’s substantially more difficult to hit that High C while bending over to shave your legs. It’s kind of like writing an eight-page paper the day before it’s due: sure, you can do it, but it won’t turn out that great.
2. You receive unexpected comments.
We all like to hear the occasional, “You sound amazing!” But it is a bit embarrassing when you don’t know who said it and it interrupts you mid-belt. Do you say thank you, or do you keep singing? Or do you stop singing because their comments are like applause, signaling the song to end? You’re technically in private, but your little concert isn’t.
3. People know what kind of day you’re having.
If I’m singing anything by the Jackson 5, it’s an A+ day. If I’m singing Adele’s entire “21” album, you can bet I’m pretty down in the dumps. And if I’m singing country music, I’m probably going through a quarter-life crisis and you should probably ask me if I’m okay.Â
4.You waste water.
Apparently, a five minute shower uses 12 gallons of water, and your showers are at least twice that amount because that’s enough time for two to three John Mayer songs. And then the guilt sets in because there’s a perpetual drought in Massachusetts and you feel like a reckless, John Mayer-loving, shower-hogging scumbag.Â
5. It echoes.
You can hear yourself way too well. You like to sing but you don’t like to hear every little break in your voice floating all around you and booming in your eardrums. Do you really sound like that? Probably. It’s fine.Â
6. Everyone hears when you mess up the lyrics.
Woah woah woah. Since when was it “like a virgin, touched for the very first time?” You thought it was “like a virgin, touched for the thirty-first time.” Did everyone brushing their teeth just hear that? Yep. Everyone brushing their teeth definitely just heard that.
7. When you drop things it’s extra awkward.
When people who don’t sing in the shower drop their body wash, sure, it makes a loud noise, but they can brush it off and just pick the bottle up. But when you drop something, it completely ruins your reprise with a comically unexpected bang, shattering the illusion you have everything together. Then you have to start from the top. The show must go on, of course.Â
8. Everyone knows it’s you (and your shower schedule).
If you always sing in the shower, and everyone on the floor can hear you while you sing in the shower, people will soon recognize when you shower. So that means you actually have to shower on, like, a fairly regular basis.Â
9. You’re probably annoying.
It doesn’t matter how good your voice sounds, sometimes people don’t want to wake up to it at 9 a.m., or go to sleep hearing it at midnight. You probably won’t ever stop singing in the shower. But it’s fine, right?
