We all try to do our part for the environment. We recycle our LaCroix cans, we bring reusable bags to Trader Joe’s, and maybe we even invested in a metal straw that we definitely lost three days later. But there is a line between being eco-conscious and being a tyrant, and one husband on Reddit just sprinted across that line with a level of audacity that is truly hard to comprehend.
Our narrator starts off by assuring us that her husband is usually sweet and loving. They have been married for twenty years, and she loves him more than anything. She even throws in the classic disclaimer that “divorce is not an option.” Honey, after reading what he did to you, divorce might not be the only option, but a restraining order for the water heater should definitely be on the table.
Her husband is a computer programmer who she describes as “super smart” but also “a little out there.” He is prone to believing in conspiracy theories and fixating on specific issues. Lately, his fixation has landed squarely on the environment, specifically water conservation. Now, worrying about water usage is valid. But his method of “conservation” involves policing his wife’s hygiene like he is the warden of a maximum-security prison.
At some point, he installed a fancy new water filter system. Great! Everyone loves crisp water. But then came the rule. He decided, unilaterally, that the entire household is only allowed to take two showers a week. Let me repeat that. Two. Showers. A week.
Now, for most functioning adults, a daily shower is non-negotiable. It is how we decompress, it is how we wake up, and quite frankly, it is how we avoid smelling like a gym locker. The narrator explains she likes to shower every night before bed because she hates feeling dirty. This is a basic human comfort. But her husband has turned this simple act into a battlefield.
She tried to ignore his insane rule at first, which is the only logical response to such nonsense. But he didn’t just nag her. He didn’t just leave a passive-aggressive note. He actually went to the utility closet and shut off the hot water while she was in the shower.
I need you to pause and imagine the level of controlling behavior required to physically cut off your spouse’s hot water supply while they are naked and vulnerable in the bathroom. That is not environmentalism. That is punishment. That is treating a grown woman like a misbehaving toddler who played in the mud.
She tried finding workarounds, like showering at the gym, but life with kids makes that unsustainable. She hoped he would snap out of it, but months have passed and he is still enforcing his draconian water laws.
The breaking point eventually arrived when she simply wanted to take a shower. He told her she had “hit her quota.” I am sorry, but since when does a husband get to set a quota on his wife’s cleanliness? She told him to back off and got in the shower anyway. Two minutes later, the water went ice cold.
She finally lost it. She wrapped herself in a towel, marched downstairs, and let him have it. She told him this was the dumbest thing he has ever done and dropped the ultimate ultimatum: she is moving to her parents’ house if he doesn’t stop this madness immediately.
Is she going too far? Absolutely not. She isn’t going far enough. This man isn’t saving the planet. He is controlling his wife’s body and her basic autonomy in her own home. You cannot claim to be a “sweet and loving” partner while freezing your wife out of the shower because you have decided your anxiety about the climate trumps her right to be clean.
He needs therapy, not a water meter. And she needs a long, hot, uninterrupted shower at her parents’ house until he figures out that his wife is not a leaky faucet he needs to fix.