Wow to all the people saying 3 minutes is not long enough! The only part of this that's bad is that she wasn't informed ahead of time that there was a 3 minute rule. Now she knows, it'll be easy to stick to. 3 minutes is plenty, and is a quite common time limit on showers, especially here in Australia.

@163 How would it inconvenience everyone around me?

@147 They can easily ask them when they get home. Or ask to use a friend's house phone to check in with their parents (assuming they're at the friend's house).

Ship shower bitch

Okay, first off people need a little context. Australia has had several severe droughts in a row. They think that California is water world. Second. It is possible to shower in 3 minutes with a little planning. Get a bucket, soap yourself up, wash your hair, shave, etc. using the bucket. Then just use the shower to rinse off. This is how people do it in Japan and it is possible for men and women. Third. Stop whining. The father isn't being abusive or abusive or anything else. He's trying to avoid a fine of $1,000 (for the FIRST offense - it goes up rapidly after that). I don't know what type of households you live in, but that's not exactly chickenfeed. I'm sorry for the OP. I've lived through droughts before so bad that we weren't allowed to flush the toilet more than 3 times a day (seriously - it was disgusting) and showers? Hahahahahahaha! It was a half bucket of water and a sponge bath. I know it sucks. It isn't her step-father's fault though, and she needs to face up to the fact that everyone in NSW is in the same state, and adjust her washing habits. As for all of you who were prepared to badmouth the dad without understanding the situation more fully - you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Kill thay bitch

My step-dad had the same rule when I was growing up. With practice and planning three minutes is plenty. I'm a grown woman with children of my own and I can still take a complete shower (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, and rinsing everything) in UNDER three minutes. It sucks until you get the hang of it, but once you do you'll wonder why everyone else takes so long. I mean, what are they doing in there?

Your step-dads a jackass, and most people get ideas in the shower (god knows I do) and some people just take forever.

Never mind FYL it's more your mom I'm thinking of as the guy probably has same stopwatch mentality when having sex.

My stepdad used to have a similar rule. He put in a shower timer and I was only allowed to shower for 4 minutes because he blamed me for the water bill being high, although conveniently enough his own daughter was still allowed to take half hour long showers without him batting an eyelash.