Th goddess of the bathroom and me Anonymous

Every weekend, I clean the bathroom at home since the age of 11, and it is one of the things that I am passionate about.

In Japanese culture, the goddess of the bathroom is said to be very beautiful. If you clean the bathroom, you will become beautiful and rich because of the power of the goddess.

I was often bullied because of my appearance. Raised in a poor single-mother household, I could not afford to buy cute clothes or stationeries that other kids owned. Becoming beautiful and rich was the only way to not be left out.

So I cleaned the bathroom every weekend.

In Japan, students are in charge of cleaning the school to develop a sense of responsibility. I was reluctant at first to clean the disgusting school bathroom, but I volunteered to do it because I wanted more blessings from the goddess and reputation of being a good kid.

Since then, I received countless compliments from teachers and other students. Those attitudes made me obsessed with being praised, and this motivated me to do more.

But to some, I was a selfless weirdo. When they started to avoid me, I realized that I am sick of the atmosphere to stay away from people who act differently. I was longing for a place where even “weirdos” are accepted.