Once, long ago, at Little America Hotel in Salt Lake, Justin went into the bathroom and came back out wearing a shower cap on his head and we laughed and laughed. This started what has become a traditional competition between Justin and Rick and I. Rick will claim he's innocent, not involved, not true. A couple of years ago Rick put the shower caps out at Justin's house while Justin and I took a rental car back. Over the years we've mailed, stuffed, stashed, squished and frozen shower caps at Justin's home and ours.
It's become a good competition to see who can get the most shower caps. Justin wins hands down, he's the traveler, he goes to exotic places and brings us shower caps, sewing kits, soap, whatever he can get in his suitcase, and we find his little treasures everywhere. He goes to great lengths to get more shower caps than I do. Several years ago he met me in San Diego for a Treasurers conference, it wasn't enough to get the one new shower cap daily, he started bribing the maid. He'd leave her notes and cash - yes cash - and she'd, in turn, leave numberless shower caps, which have all ended up in drawers, shoes, etc. here at home.
I get in a few punches too, but since we don't get to Vancouver very often, I have to rely on him leaving his luggage unattended just before going home. That's when I get to share my stash with him. I wonder what the customs agents think if they inspect his suitcases, they probably wonder what kind of OCD he has. It's kind of fun stuffing the pockets of his jeans and squishing shower caps between his socks. And it's not easy to get them in his luggage, he's a very neat and TIGHT packer. He's started leaving notes on top of his suitcases for me that say "step away from the suitcase". I just laugh as I stash away.
He went home from his Christmas visit this year on the 30th of December. That very night as Rick and I got into bed, low and behold, there were about 16 or so shower caps in our bed. Some were easy to get, just between the sheets, some were stashed between the mattress and mattress cover. There is always that little pyramid from The Luxor that ends up in the bed and it could really cause damage to the body.
Since the night he went home we have added 40+ to our collection, finding them in places like my laundry detergent, in clean folded towels, numerous shoes, pockets of jackets. I had added lumps in the butt of a pair of jeans, luckily I found the shower cap before leaving home. He even put some in his bed downstairs, knowing if I got a cough during the winter I'd sleep down. Well, I slept down there right after he left and found the little gifts he'd left for me.
We have shower caps from Madrid, Istanbul, South Africa, Rio de Janeiro, Paris; then there the ones from my "exciting" trips like Michigan, Spokane and San Diego.
This is a great thing for us. We tease each other, we accuse each other, we lie to each other(little white lies) and most of all we love laughing about the shower caps together. We have an awesome relationship and really enjoy each other. When I die I will request that I be buried with all the shower caps he can find at his house and mine, that should give people something to laugh about.
