I have come across these shower spouts in hotels from time to time. It’s really frustrating when you’re standing in the shower, the water is on with just the right temperature coming out of the spout, and there is no lever to divert the water to the shower head.

What the heck?

Apparently some hotels got tired of naked guests calling the front desk in frustration because they could not figure out how to turn on the water in the shower, so they put up this sign at eye level:

Even with this sign, I’d venture to guess that many a patron that does not routinely read engineering blueprints cannot figure out what the drawing means.

The gist is: you pull down the spout ring, which you can’t even see is there when you stand in the shower, to get it to work.

Why? Why? Why?

Did some designer jump up and down and yell:

“Look, Ma, I made something really complicated that used to be simple, trivial and functional! Now everyone is going to need help the first time they use this shower!”