DOWN THE DRAIN Another quiet night In another hotel room Somewhere in America-- And again, The bathtub drain plug Won't plug the bathtub drain. Nothing unusual there-- Just take a shower and forget about it. Hotel bathtub drain plugs never work. But why? Perhaps the gods of quiet dreamy times Relaxed in a warm tub Have some quarrel with the gods of hotels And are taking subtle revenge. Or perhaps they have a secret longing For simpler days at Grandma's house With a plain rubber stopper on a length of chain, And have scornfully turned their backs On today's new-fangled Microprocessor-controlled Bath Drain Management Systems. Or--more sinister thought-- Conspiracy afoot, Hotel management deeply implicated: You can't overflow the tub If you can't fill it in the first place. When I get home I'll ask my friends At Conspiracy Central And in the meantime, Either improvise some way to stop the drain Or else Just take a shower and forget about it. Thomas G. Digby written 0515 hr 2/18/84 entered 2300 hr 2/22/84 format 2215 hr 2/08/92