As a summer job sometimes I did painting and one of my customers ran apartment blocks. When an apartment was empty his professional crew would give it a make over, but if it was occupied, and it was just a room, or a hall, I'd get the job.
I had several experiences worthy of posting on this site, but this time I'll tell you about the bathroom I repainted for a young woman, perhaps 30 at the time and I was like 19. I knew from the box in the hallway of things taken from the bathroom cupboard she had a syringe bag. The enema nozzle was attached. Around it, held in place by an elastic band, was a douche nozzle. I concluded she used the syringe for both and screwed into place the nozzle needed and when finished used the rubber band so the other was kept with the bag. How did I see this? Easy, I looked under the towels on top of the box when she was out.
I guessed from the attached shoe lace, a good strong one, and hook, she used the towel rods to hang the syringe from when using it. The next day I arrived with new handles, towel racks, and several little curl hooks --- people here will know exactly the sort I'm talking about; perfect to hang a syringe bag, or shoe lace holder from and not much else. I brought chrome, and white ones and asked if I could consult with her in the bathroom when I arrived. I showed her the handles, and the towel rods and said if it suited her I planned to put up new towel racks and put new handles on the drawers and cupboards. She said that was great and chose the chrome.
Out on display were five of the small chrome hooks and I said, very cool, no big deal. "most people like to have hooks put up near the toilet and the bathtub. Where would you like them, and what height?" As I said this I held one of the hooks up against the wall just in front of the toilet, at what I thought would be the right height to hang a douche bag. "Right there would be fine," she said, and Mr. Cool took a pencil and made a dot through the hole the screw would go in.
"And, one about here?" I asked holding the hook further back and a little higher up at a point I thought perfect to hang an enema bag if someone was taking it sitting on the toilet. "I think six inches higher would be better," she said, and I moved it up, "about here?" "that would be good," and so I marked it with the pencil.
Then, still cool as a cucumber, I turned and said, "I've got three others. Would you like one somewhere around the bathtub, say on the wall here?" I put the hook to the side of the tub at a height if she was standing, or bent over with her hands on the edge of the tub for an enema, the bag would be about two feet, I guessed, above the injection point. "Sure," she said. "That's good." I marked that spot.
"What about the back of the door," I asked, "There's a clothes hook and I'll replace it with the same thing, but if you'd like a hook a little lower, say here," and I put the hook up, about a foot lower than the other one. She said, "Well …. if it was more like half way between that hook and the floor, would that be okay?" Then she said, "Be a good place to hang the bath brush so it would dry." This time she sort of blushed and I was still Mr. Cool. I was sure she'd hang a bag from it for enemas down on her hands and knees on the bath mat, but I didn't let on. "About here?" I asked, holding the hook on the back of the door. She motioned up with her hand, I raised it about six inches, and she said that would be fine. I marked it.
I noted I still had another hook, was there anywhere else she would like one? She looked around, and said, no, she thought it was good. I said, thanks and I'd best get to work. A short while later she called out she was headed out and I yelled back 'see you later.'