In a week of the horrendous events of Paris, I find it rather difficult to post about the menial trials and tribulations of our market place.

So I have decided to go completely left field and talk about the bath vs shower debate. Now before you pick up your edition of the financial times, or decide that the leaflet for double glazing that has dropped through your letter box has got to be more interesting, hang fire, be patient , give this a chance …

A recent article prompted this train of thought and it was from the ‘pro bath’ lobby. Julia and I have always been bathers despite numerous friends, in recent years,ripping out perfectly good baths and building wet rooms , leaving their houses ‘bath less’. Now, we have been around a bit and experienced most forms of showers, including upside buckets in the bush, ‘rain forest’ showers in high end hotels, power showers at friends, bowls of upturned cold water in the mountains, but none beats our bath. 

But it is not just our personal preferences,  look at the evidence. Showers are supposed to be more eco friendly, in so far as they use less water and power. Not so with power showers, especially if you share your bath water ( yeah, okay we do, but will come back to that). They are supposed to be healthier and cleaner. Not so, especially in hotels where you get wrapped in bacteria ridden, fungus engulfed smelly plastic shower curtains. Do elite athletes have cold showers? No they have ice baths. Is one of the corner stones of Japanese culture , a shower , no it is the Onsen, a hot bath. Are there Turkish showers? no of course not. What did the Romans invent? Did they go for the easy option , no they invented modern plumbing and the bath. There are not any cultures , that I can think of that revolve around the shower. Do you have a spa shower? No you immerse yourself in the healing waters in a spa bath . And the final piece (and the most convincing) of evidence is that Archimedes had his ‘eureka’ moment in the bath.

Sharing our bath water, yes I always get in last.

So what is the purpose of this self indulgent ramble. All of us get bombarded , on a daily basis, with information from the media, the web, our friends and colleagues, that if we take a course of action in a particular way, it will be more efficient, plus benefiting ourselves, those around us and society in general. Most of this information is correct and should be considered. Occasionally, as individuals, we have a belief that our way would actually be better. If it is better for you, your organisation, or those close to you and it does not impact negatively on people or things  around you, stick with it.