ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Bathing in the Bin. Unconsciously a libation, the author poured water over her shoulders while sitting in a porcelain tub. Nurses knelt beside her, an orderly held a clipboard, bright lights shot through her, she was illuminated for their benefit every mark, every scar, every unusual feature noted meticulously by men with pens. An undercurrent of voice scanting possible medications, Thorazine, Stelazine, Haldol, Librium, Lithium, Zoloft. She is never consulted, but keeps laughing absurdlyas they roll her over, stabbing her back with stares, poking her with callous fingertips he water getting tepid, her flesh rising from the chill. They tell her not to wash her hair. She stands robot like waiting for towels. Her flank is pinched before she receives them. She keeps smiling to the end. No one seems to get the joke.
