Anyway, so yes, I do my laundry at the laundromat. Partially because it's easier for me to do it all at once, and partially because I never got enough money together to buy myself machines for home, plus I was afraid of buying machines because I thought this somehow made me "permanent" in my duplex and that it would be more difficult to move later on, should the time come to find a different place to live.
(I've actually finally gotten a hold of some machines, but now, I'm just too comfortable with my routine. After all, I've spent over 2 years doing this! Isn't interesting how we form habits?)
I've used public laundry since graduating from college. I was fortunate enough to have free laundry at my dorm on campus for 4 straight years (ah, the advantages of a small Christian college in the Midwest!). Before that, my parents always had machines in the house. I only remember the washer breaking once, ever.
Anyway, I've gotten to observe lots of different people over these 2 years. Some, I recognize, but not always. No, not everyone in the laundromat is "dirty". I think that's a huge misconception, and perhaps even one that I was guilty of having. No, not everyone in a laundromat is "scary". Just because there is a single man over folding his socks all by his lonesome, and he may look a little raggedy, doesn't mean he's out to get you (or steal your laundry detergent).
Once, about a year and a half ago, I observed a rather impatient man. He seemed very frustrated, and as I watched, I became pretty worked up. Turns out a different man, one who may have seemed a bit "eccentric" or "different",had accidentally put one quarter into the first man's dryer.
The first man was throwing a fit! He was yelling at the second man, complaining, "Yeah, you just put that in MY dryer" with this horribly demeaning tone of voice. This guy didn't seem to notice that he had gotten the attention of several of us around him.
The second man just remained quiet.
I stayed quiet over at my folding table for about a minute, and then I felt moved to act. In the olden days, Won't Take No Crap Gilda probably would have engaged in a yelling match with Impatient Man. I felt a little bit of that rage; I tend to stick up for the vulnerable if I see them being attacked.
Instead, I walked over to the Quarter Man, and I said, "Here's your quarter back", handing him one of my own quarters. He smiled and thanked me.
My heart was pounding a little bit. Maybe jumping into cruelty like that, with a small act of kindness, is all that has been required of us all along.
About 2 minutes, the owner of the laundromat, a lady with a long, blonde braid, walked over to me and said, "This is for you. I saw what you did." And she handed me a coupon for $2.00 off my next wash at the laundromat.
It was pretty cool.
I felt such satisfaction in my heart that day. I knew I had done the right thing, and somehow shown the man that he still mattered, that he wasn't a nobody like this bully was trying to make him feel.
Perhaps I continue to come to the laundromat in the hopes of more such encounters. Not so that I can receive something in return, but just so that I might never grow so jaded and hardened that I can't see the simple needs of my neighbors.
After all, people are people.
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