Laundromats are expensive! Our dryer conked out on Saturday, so I spent many, many quarters “doing the wash” at the local Laundromat on Sunday. I could've spent a month in an arcade with the number of quarters I shelled out. (Do arcades still exist?) My wife would have joined me, but she was helping friends with an estate sale this weekend.
I was chaperone-less at the Laundromat! Something odd was bound to happen.
At first I was alone there. Except for the place being run down, things were going well. Then a middle-aged man came in. We nodded acknowledgement of each other and went about minding our own business. Perfect! Then he decided he had to explain why he was at there. You see, he’s renovating his house and WOULD own a washer/dryer by now, but he got drunk and bought a brand new pick-up truck. Because of that he couldn’t afford the appliances (“Damn that dealership!”). Why didn't the salesman stop him???
Soon he brought his dog into the place. It was a pretty dog, part Husky, part German Shepherd. I let the dog smell my hand, pet him, and then we were friends. I’m not sure why, but the man then tied the poor dog to a post outside, in front of the Laundromat. I felt bad for the pup. So after I hung my dress shirts in the car, I stopped by to say hello. Somehow the dog had already forgotten me—and thankfully the leash held when he lunged for me. I felt teeth closing on my hand as I pulled back.
Funny story (that I didn't hear until after the near bite), the dog’s previous owner had trained him to attack everyone. I’ve seen other people leave their dogs tied up in front of little shops (and I don’t like the practice). But who would leave THAT dog alone out on a sidewalk???
Who? Well, the only things I know for sure about the guy is that he lives by "the dump" and he's not a racist. How do I know that? Because he told me 7 or 8 times. Then he'd launch into one complaint or another about Obama. You'll be surprised, but he also mentioned Hitler a time or two. I made the mistake of responding to some of his crazier crapola...some things are hard to ignore...at the same time, I know I was wasting my breath.
Did it really take the clothes forever to dry or did it just feel like forever???
Have you had any interesting (or annoying) experiences in a Laundromat? (Next time I'm going to the nicer one that's farther away--no one talks to you there.)
I was chaperone-less at the Laundromat! Something odd was bound to happen.
At first I was alone there. Except for the place being run down, things were going well. Then a middle-aged man came in. We nodded acknowledgement of each other and went about minding our own business. Perfect! Then he decided he had to explain why he was at there. You see, he’s renovating his house and WOULD own a washer/dryer by now, but he got drunk and bought a brand new pick-up truck. Because of that he couldn’t afford the appliances (“Damn that dealership!”). Why didn't the salesman stop him???
Soon he brought his dog into the place. It was a pretty dog, part Husky, part German Shepherd. I let the dog smell my hand, pet him, and then we were friends. I’m not sure why, but the man then tied the poor dog to a post outside, in front of the Laundromat. I felt bad for the pup. So after I hung my dress shirts in the car, I stopped by to say hello. Somehow the dog had already forgotten me—and thankfully the leash held when he lunged for me. I felt teeth closing on my hand as I pulled back.
Funny story (that I didn't hear until after the near bite), the dog’s previous owner had trained him to attack everyone. I’ve seen other people leave their dogs tied up in front of little shops (and I don’t like the practice). But who would leave THAT dog alone out on a sidewalk???
Who? Well, the only things I know for sure about the guy is that he lives by "the dump" and he's not a racist. How do I know that? Because he told me 7 or 8 times. Then he'd launch into one complaint or another about Obama. You'll be surprised, but he also mentioned Hitler a time or two. I made the mistake of responding to some of his crazier crapola...some things are hard to ignore...at the same time, I know I was wasting my breath.
PS II - Why does spell check keep capitalizing "Laundromat"?
haha how odd! You must have a very friendly face; I find that looking too approachable often results in you being approached, but by weirdos, not nice people lol
ReplyDeleteSome people tell me I look mad when I'm just bopping along, minding my own business. That can't be true!!!
DeleteI do get into some unusual situations. It was fun the time I had six people (who were surrounding my car) praying for my son. They were going door-to-door handing out religious flyers and I happened to be sitting in my car waiting while my wife checked out a yard sale. That's when my wife said she couldn't leave me anywhere. :)
I'm also being approached by weird people only... maybe one of my secret talents, lol.
ReplyDeleteWhat have you learned from that experience? Always have a working laundromat at home, hahaha. Or dry the laundry the traditional way :)
Being a weird people magnet can be interesting. But if we both are magnets, shouldn't we repel each other??? ONE of us must be weird. ;)
DeleteI learned that even though a dog seems friendly, don't trust it if you don't know it well. I'm kicking myself because I did know that already. He just looked so miserable tied up.
Thanks for my morning dose of laughter, Rick! Sorry you had to spend time at the laundromat. I find them to be such depressing places. Plus, being completely paranoid, I always worry that the person before me used the machines to wash their belongings after they discovered their kids had head lice. (That's probably because I had a friend who did that very thing!)
ReplyDeleteI hope your appliances haven't caught the Hammond Appliance Plague.
Oh no! I hadn't considered the possibility of the Plague hitting us. The washer IS making a funny sound.
DeleteI thought about your German Shepherd experience after the dog made it's move towards me--then I remembered my dad's advice. Thanksfully it wasn't needed. :)
So in Texas, a lot of us only know laundromats as 'washaterias' which sounds much better than laundromat. And I know of at least one laundromat that is also a coffee shop / bar with games while you wait for your clothes to get clean. I could get down with that.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds so much nicer than ours. The one I was in on Sunday was drab, dreary and dirty. It didn't even have a vending machine for detergent/softeners. In recent years I've only gone to a washateria during power outages, so I had to go to one farther away--it's nicer, but not as nice as what you described.
DeleteSo did the dog bite you? I hope not! What a scary dog! I love pups but super hate dogs because I got bit by a dog a few years back. I went to the Laundromat with my brother but I'm always big on saving up even if it is just coins...so I've pretty much been doing my laundry by hand. hehehehe.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean "by hand", but it's more fun to picture you beating your clothes on a rock by the river (something I've seen in lots of movies). :)
DeleteThe dog just missed biting me--I've had close calls, but never been seriously bitten (knock on wood).
What a scary dog, I have been bitten by dogs so many times that I usually hold my breath when I walk past them. They can sense your anxiety so I just proceed, don't make eye contact. I don't have a washer dryer in my condo unit so i take it downstairs to our laundromat, it's 1.50 per wash and 1.50 per dry.
ReplyDeleteThat's awful! I'm so sorry you've had those experiences. I've had close calls--most with a certain German Shepherd in my dad's neighborhood. It was always trying to sneak up on us from behind. That made walking home from my grandmother's (in the pitch dark) much more exciting than it needed to be.
DeleteHaha, is this why our parents tell us not to talk to strangers!? Because they are all just crazy? I love how his reason for being at the laundromat was that he got drunk and bought a truck, haha so random.
ReplyDeletexo, Yi-chia
Always Maylee
Yes! :)
DeleteI didn't explain why I was there (or share a single bit of personal information). Avoiding the crazy is always a good idea.
Have a nice weekend!
Hahahahahahaha, poor you! Weird strangers talking to us SUCKS! I know the feeling...
ReplyDeleteHey, I only tried to talk to you once! haha
DeleteI get an icky feeling going to laundromats too. Luckily haven't stepped in one..since..college?? I don't like talking to strange strangers either. LOL on going to the place that's nice, farther away, and also where no one speaks to one another. And LOL LOL on the why does it keep auto correcting laundromats to be capital! Haha. It keeps doing that in Word too (where I type).
ReplyDeleteThanks to several extended power outages over the past year, we've been in laundromats too often. It's much more fun going as a team rather than solo. As for talking to strange strangers, somehow it's becoming an unintentional hobby for me. It really amuses my wife--most of the time. :)
DeleteSome people just like to talk! Or maybe you have the face that says "Hmm tell me more." HAHA. There aren't any laundromats in my country coz everyone has their own washing machine/dryer. When I first saw a laundromat on TV I was like, "WHY would anyone wanna wash their laundry somewhere not at home?!"
ReplyDeletePS; arcades totally still exist! Been just a few years since I entered one tho, coz my friends are too busy to entertain my wishes.
I like talking to some people--and others like talking to me! :)
DeleteLOL! some people just like to talk?! maybe he was just lonely... well, at least he's not racist, so he claims!!
ReplyDeleteHe did seem lonely, perhaps a loner. I'm not too confident about his claims,
Delete