If I were Stephen Greenblatt, this would be one of those anecdotes. [Updated]

There's a very British ambiguous sign on my bathroom door:

My sentiments exactly: if your fire alarm's so sensitive that steam sets it off, you have a crap fire alarm.  After a hot shower this morning, though, I discovered that British steam does in fact activate things.  In my case, it activated a love letter to a woman named "Christy" that some previous occupant had written on the bathroom mirror:

Not entirely clear there, I know, but if you look down from the light, you can spot the curves of the heart and the first letter of "Christy."  The whole thing reads "I [heart] you more Christy B," and the relative "more" suggests that I've intruded on a conversation in my own hotel room.  

Per the title, were I Stephen Greenblatt circa 1985, I'm sure I could do something astounding with this travel anecdote; since I'm me, I was merely a little freaked out to exit the shower and be confronted by someone else's love letter.

Update.  Now my phone line's dead, which can mean only one thing: I'm being haunted by a very pathetic ghost.  He snuck into the bathroom and declared his love for "Christy," and now he's cut the phones.  I suppose I should be very frightened, but this room is as quaint as it is small.  The worst he could do to me is, I don't know, turn off the kettle so I can't make hot tea.

Comments

[John Emerson]

Was there any suspicious crud in the shower stall?

[james suhr]

Wow. I never knew another country's steam could have such special properties. I now want to experience steam from around the world.

[Steve]

Where would Britain be without steam?

I hope you enjoy the old place. My favourite (telling spelling) sign is: "Bicycles chained to these railings will be removed."

[Inconstant Reader]

The cultural difference that made me laugh the hardest when I was in England was that the soda cans warned, "Best served chilled." Only the British would need to be told that.

[Bob Reed]

Look out for that British steam! It has different physical properties from the US variety...

There's a very complicated explanation, but suffice it to say that it boils down to using the SI units...

(swidt?)