We often have to remind ourselves that hygiene is, in fact, important for us to maintain. Long fingernails, long toenails, greasy hair, dry skin, a stinky mouth ripe for cavities, these things all remind us that we humans are large, gross flesh machines that don’t stop producing weird by-products.
It’s not so fun when you stop caring about all of the things I mentioned above, when the smells and odd sensations stop mattering. A sniff or a scratch of your head remind you of the problem, but sometimes, for good or bad, you just don’t care. Of course, when your mother pops her head in and chastises you for it, or your partner, or children even, you can be snapped back into maintenance mode. Ten minutes might be all it takes to sort out all of your hygiene problems, if you’re not clinically depressed or suffering from a disability of some sort, but it’s still a hassle. Wouldn’t it be great if we could modify humans to just be self-cleaning, like a vagina or a fancy dishwasher?
Weekend prompt option: long fingernails
If you'd like to participate too, the contest can be found here: @mariannewest/single-prompt-option-the-weekend-freewrite-112022