November 22: Laundry List

Last night I went to the Laundromat. (Did you know that's a brand name? I guess I technically went to a generic clothes laundering center.) I kept putting it off and putting it off, to the point that last week I actually just washed some shirts in the bathtub to avoid going. But I couldn't put it off any longer and still avoid doing laundry at my parents' house (generously offered, but leaves one's clothes reeking for weeks of perfumey fabric softener and the acrid, unyielding taste of GPC Ultralight 100s). So I went and did 10 loads of laundry ($18.25!), and most of the time I was the only one there except the owner.

Maybe he's the owner. He's ALWAYS there. Sometimes he does pushups on the counter in that way you do when you've been trapped in one little space for half your life. He commented on how hard I was working today! I do laundry very fast! (Which is true. I was.)

It made me wish I was like Santa Claus in the old Miracle on 34th street, when he starts talking Dutch to the little girl. I wished I could answer him in Chinese and we could have had a happy surprise conversation about who left this Kleenex in the dryer, and why would people wash cashmere in a washing machine. But I'm no santa claus, so we just kind of made very short nodding comments and went about our business.