So when was the last time you had to go to the Laundry Mat? Do they still call them that? Well, I can tell you it has been a long time for me, I am pretty sure I was in my early twenties. But I had to. My huge, alternative down, mattress cover would not fit inside my washing machine And I was too cheap to take it to the dry cleaners. So off to the laundry mat I went, my husband in tow.
This would be comical if it weren’t so pathetic. I looked at the large load machines and then looked at the ones on the wall. The ones on the wall looked larger to me and they were a lot less coin. I decided to use one of them until Gary gently pointed out that they are driers not washers. “Have you forgotten everything about laundry mats?” he teased. Oh. Ok so we cram this mattress cover into the big machine that did not seem so big to me and we began to read the instructions. $6. Really? $6? Oh yes. And to add insult to injury you have to put it into the slot one coin at a time, 24 quarters! Good grief. Isn’t it supposed to register somewhere that I am dropping all these coins in? And where does the soap go? In the top? Section 1? 2? We read more instructions. No help. Thankfully God sent an angel to guide us through this process in the form of a very old, very tattooed, and somewhat toothless lady. She stepped in and expertly started the machine selected the best settings and showed us where to put the soap. If you select the extra spin, she explained, it will save you drying time later. And, she pointed to the large machine at the end of the row, that’s the best dryer. I wanted to hug her. She was so kind. And such an unexpected (albeit welcomed) surprise. Then she left. Kindness is an amazing thing.
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