@Mark M: “The chimney sweep appears to be referring to a wet spot on the floor.” I don’t think he is a chimney sweep. As the title for the post suggests, he might be a plumbing sweep, or a drainpipe sweep. (Though granted he does seem to be covered with something like ash or char.) And this is a rival guild.
The room occupant with the towel must have said something about how surprising it is to see a chimney sweep in his hotel room bath area, and the sweep has made a correction, and in the bit of speech we are seeing the sweep is saying No problem, your mistake is understandable / forgiven, as afterall the chimney sweeps are much more famous.
@chipchristian — Maybe IDU correctly the geometry of the room. But since you seem to have a handle on it: Is that one shower/bath compartment or two? If one, how come the divider has a raised side in the left part but the doorway is open down to the floor in the right hand side?
He is a sewer sweep. He popped up unexpectedly from the drain. There just aren’t any romantic stories about sewer sweeps, which is why you haven’t heard of them.
I’m with @CaroZ. Or he’s a drain sweep, just clearing the wife’s long hairs out of the drain (since clearly the guy pictured is no longer losing the kind of hair that clogs drains).
Thanks, chipchristian. Your hotel photo helps. But I still can’t 100% reconcile the drawing with that. One issue is the shading — the righthand side, where the guest is standing and the sweep is emerging from the drain, has darker background tiling than the lefthand section where in theory we are seeing through glass/plexi and it should be dimmed not brighter. The other thing is the opaque section towards the bottom, on the left. (Note that the photo does not show something like this.) It can’t be a “modesty panel” as it doesn’t come up high enough. Which is what led me to invent a bathtub behind it, but I now agree that is unlikely.
Note that the door causes a lighter color of the floor on the right. It’s consistent.
The floor’s wet so maybe its steam wetness that’s settled on the glass. (The deeply saturated color of the container in the soap cove is much less of problem with steam than with frosted glass, but still a problem I think.)
I have no idea what that panel is supposed to do, but I’ve seen and used showers that had it. Maybe it’s a strengthening thing – support for the door? Sometimes there’s also a layer on the door that matches, not apparent here – so when the door’s closed you can’t see the floor of the shower. But that’s purely visual, paint or vinyl.
And in at least one shower like this I’ve used, there were two separate showerheads, one at each end of the space. One was set higher (this was a hotel – well, actually, a timeshare), but they were otherwise identical.
I chuckled when I saw this, over the idea of a sewer sweep. And I think he’s covered with hair – that’s one very common cause of clogs down shower drains.
Comics I Don't Understand 
Drain diminy, drain diminy
Hit blockage Ah-Choo
A sweep is as filthy
As flushes from you
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I just want that roomy shower! Does it also have a rainfall showerhead in the ceiling? The wall mounted one doesn’t look up to the job.
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The chimney sweep appears to be referring to a wet spot on the floor. After that I have absolutely no idea.
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@Mark M: “The chimney sweep appears to be referring to a wet spot on the floor.” I don’t think he is a chimney sweep. As the title for the post suggests, he might be a plumbing sweep, or a drainpipe sweep. (Though granted he does seem to be covered with something like ash or char.) And this is a rival guild.
The room occupant with the towel must have said something about how surprising it is to see a chimney sweep in his hotel room bath area, and the sweep has made a correction, and in the bit of speech we are seeing the sweep is saying No problem, your mistake is understandable / forgiven, as afterall the chimney sweeps are much more famous.
@chipchristian — Maybe IDU correctly the geometry of the room. But since you seem to have a handle on it: Is that one shower/bath compartment or two? If one, how come the divider has a raised side in the left part but the doorway is open down to the floor in the right hand side?
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He is a sewer sweep. He popped up unexpectedly from the drain. There just aren’t any romantic stories about sewer sweeps, which is why you haven’t heard of them.
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I’m with @CaroZ. Or he’s a drain sweep, just clearing the wife’s long hairs out of the drain (since clearly the guy pictured is no longer losing the kind of hair that clogs drains).
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@Danny Boy – London Derriere
I don’t see a tub at all, just one large walk-in shower area.
Reminds me of this:
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Ah thanks. I didn’t catch that he was coming out of the drain. I thought he was standing on the shower floor and just happened to have short legs.
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Thanks, chipchristian. Your hotel photo helps. But I still can’t 100% reconcile the drawing with that. One issue is the shading — the righthand side, where the guest is standing and the sweep is emerging from the drain, has darker background tiling than the lefthand section where in theory we are seeing through glass/plexi and it should be dimmed not brighter. The other thing is the opaque section towards the bottom, on the left. (Note that the photo does not show something like this.) It can’t be a “modesty panel” as it doesn’t come up high enough. Which is what led me to invent a bathtub behind it, but I now agree that is unlikely.
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@Danny I agree with your criticisms of the artwork 😁
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Note that the door causes a lighter color of the floor on the right. It’s consistent.
The floor’s wet so maybe its steam wetness that’s settled on the glass. (The deeply saturated color of the container in the soap cove is much less of problem with steam than with frosted glass, but still a problem I think.)
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I have no idea what that panel is supposed to do, but I’ve seen and used showers that had it. Maybe it’s a strengthening thing – support for the door? Sometimes there’s also a layer on the door that matches, not apparent here – so when the door’s closed you can’t see the floor of the shower. But that’s purely visual, paint or vinyl.
And in at least one shower like this I’ve used, there were two separate showerheads, one at each end of the space. One was set higher (this was a hotel – well, actually, a timeshare), but they were otherwise identical.
I chuckled when I saw this, over the idea of a sewer sweep. And I think he’s covered with hair – that’s one very common cause of clogs down shower drains.
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It looks to me a lot like a locker room shower, no?
Anyway, I think a drain sweep is a capital idea. Snakes do such a poor job.
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I don’t think he’s covered with hair; his clothes are frayed.
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“I’m a frayed knot!”
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I can’t be the only one who thought “and away go troubles down the drain.”
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The comic was okay, but I loved Downpuppy’s verse.
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