During the summer of 1999 I spent six weeks in Scotland doing mission work with a team from my college. We spent two weeks in Peterhead, two weeks in Buckee, and two weeks in Sterling. At each new city we would also trade housemates so that we could get to know someone within the group a little better. In Peterhead I roomed with a guy named Hank. It was such a blast. Hank was a few years older than me but we had a great time getting to know one another and we watched a ton of football (soccer) every night.

When week three came along we moved to Buckee and stayed at the home of one of the church elders. The home was on the shore of the North Sea and was surrounded by beautiful Scottish hills. The views were incredible! Instead of rooming with Hank, I had to sleep on an air mattress in the dining room by myself while my new housemates, two girls, got the bedrooms. Although there was no nightly football matches, we watched a lot of British comedies and drank hot tea as we watched the sun set on the open sea (Hank, I missed you man!).

The girls gave me the hardest time though. It was like having two sisters poking fun at me everyday for two weeks! Sometimes I didn’t deserve their deriding laughter. However, at other times I did.

While in Scotland, I had to learn a whole new vocabulary. Bacon was basically warm ham. Potato chips were crisps. I felt like I had to unlearn quite a few American phrases over the course of my six weeks there. Here is where the hilarity ensues.

At the beginning of week four I ran out of shampoo. So, because our mission leaders made us promise that we wouldn’t ride on the back of the elder’s motorcycle, the girls and I walked to the store so we could grab some snacks and I could buy some shampoo. I went directly to the body product aisle and bought what I thought was the best smelling shampoo that the market had to offer. We walked back to the house I immediately tried out my new purchase. A good lather and a great smell! The perfect shampoo! For the next few days and nights I was in heaven until I began to notice that my hair was a little rough. I chalked that up to the Scottish water though. That is until one night at dinner…

One of the girls, who was my good friend, sat down at the table to eat. She said, “Micheal, you left your soap in the W.C. I love how it smells! I almost used it!” I quickly told her that my soap is in my travel kit. “My shampoo is the bathroom, not my soap,” I said. She got up and went to shower. As she walked back to the table she held my shampoo in her hands. “No,” she said laughing, “Shower gel is soap, not shampoo. Everyone at the table began howling with laughter. I had been using soap for shampoo! That’s what was making my hair feel weird. That’s why it had such a great lather! I felt so foolish.

Well, not anymore.

Thanks to modern science, I will no longer be in danger of making that same mistake again! The creative geniuses over at Old Spice have created a hybrid Hair and Body Wash taking all the guesswork out of choosing between shower gel, soaps, and shampoos.

Is it soap? Is it shampoo? Yes!

I bought a bottle of it earlier this week and have been able to cut my shower time in half! So, in reality, I didn’t make a foolish mistake back in Scotland. I was just thinking outside the box and years ahead of the then current shower gel paradigm. They laughed at Galileo, Michelangelo, Columbus, and me. Not bad company to be in. Not bad company at all.

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