Laundromat Adventures

So if you follow me on twitter you probably got my tweet about my laundromat adventure.... with the promise of much to share later... so here's to the sharing

Take into account it has been colder the past few weeks than it has been in awhile and colder means more layers... more layers means more laundry! Then there is also the fact I went to the beach twice since I last did laundry before the cold front swept through -- so I had extra towels and sandy sheets. And last but certainly not least I was determined to wash my bedding and the bedding from my most recent out of town guest today.

I've been dreading doing laundry because I knew it would be a lot. And I have been working so much the past few weeks the last thing I want to do when I get home at 8:30pm is do laundry. =) But today I bit the bullet, woke up early, sorted my laundry to realize how many loads I was going to need, stripped the sheets, loaded my tiny little bug and ventured out.

Now, as Zachary Mitchell pointed out, our apartment complex has laundry facilities. But I had been prewarned when I first moved in by other tenants that the machines are often broken which you don't know till it eats you money and that the room has an uncanny ability to make good clothes disappear. So my non-apartment options are:

- Friend's apartment (she's working/been out of town) and it's one load at a time (I've got a lot of laundry)

- Southeastern (let's fight parking! Carry laundry baskets from Dalbow (the grass; I've got a lot of laundry))

- Lakeland laundromat

I opted for the last option. *sigh* I left with $10 cash and a thing of change thinking I was safe... yeah preview to drama, it wasn't enough. I drove farther than the 2 nearest laundromats (there are a LOT in lakeland!) because one was extra sketch and I was told the other cost $5 a load.

So I arrived. Unloaded my car. I noticed there were no prices posted. Loaded the first washer. Stuck the quarters in the washer... 5 quarters in the designated slots. It wouldn't push all the way in. Arghhh... so I asked another lady that was there. She had no idea. She only used the dryers. So I loaded the more expensive washer. But mentally I could not give up on the normal ones that actually looked bigger than the $$$ I had just used.

So I asked another lady and she informed me that it's not just a 5 quarter machine, you need 8 quarters. Sure enough... bam! It worked. As I started to relax I turned around just in time to see the expensive washer's front loading door cracked spewing soapy water all over. It's a good thing I was washing my towels -- I grabbed my supersize amazing beach towel and tried to clean up some of the spillage after I shut the door and relatched it.

At this point I realized I needed more money. It's not Southeastern, so leaving your clothing unattended did not feel like a wise option. [Although, SEU has become very sketch in the laundry world -- I have had many a clothes disappear the past year] But I had no choice. I kept trying to think where the nearest ATM was -- I even asked my handy dandy iPhone. I had no luck until I remembered the sketch station on the corner of Main St and Longfellow Blvd. Hehe I jumped in my car and drove there as fast as I could.

I stepped foot into the tiny forbidden store and looked for an ATM. There wasn't one so I started to leave, but the young guy behind the counter who had been on the phone asked me what I needed. I said, "Cash back" and he said, "Buy something." So I bought some water and a Fuze [Mmm] and proceeded to check out. That man tried to charge me $2.00 for getting cashback, but then said, "Okay $1.50 for a beautiful girl" and I gave him the one raised eyebrow attitude look... debated if he was pulling my leg or if there was really a charge to use debit [we are in the ghetto after all] Thought back to my knowledge of fees for VISA vendors and offered a dollar. Finally we agreed and I left after we discussed how I look hispanic and should speak spanish, but I don't speak spanish and I'm not hispanic. I don't know if he even believed me.

I got back just as my washers were done, there was only one lady left in the laundromat at that point. By the time I loaded the dryers, which by the way cost $.25 for FIVE minutes, I was the only one in the building. With my experience and laundry intelligence I outsmarted those darned machines and put a little bit of clothes in a whole chunk of dryers and didn't spend that much money at all... Not more than $2.00! WAhooooo!

As I was waiting a corrections officer, out of uniform, joined the laundry journey. A long story short, she was very social and we ended up chatting it up while our laundry dried. I helped her with Financial Aid questions, scholarship information, textbook purchasing, etc. She was an older lady who was going back to school because she has tuition reimbursement. I gave advice on college classes and reading, etc. And the lady was genuinely thankful.

By the time we both departed I had given her websites and hope for paying for the costs for school that the tuition reimbursement did not cover. We had given each other a glimpse into one another's lives for those 30 minutes. It was the first time in awhile that I had felt like I connected with another human that I did not know anything about. As aggravated as I was that I drove so far out of my way to spend so much money on laundry, it felt like a God conversation, a God connection.

As I was driving home and passed other laundromats I could hear my reason cringe because I did drive so far away... but I would tell it to shush. I had an appointment at the laundromat I went to that I did not even suspect. It was not when I looked the best [in my jeans, hoodie, no makeup and crazy ponytail - hot mess], it was not when my mood was particularly chipper.... it was not when everything was going right that day. It was a little spastic of an adventure and less organized than I would have liked... but when the opportunity to share about Southeastern, to help and to encourage someone else... somehow I was prepared to walk through that window.

This was a longwinded blog to get to a simple conclusion I suppose... but to me it was worth it. To my flesh and my $ the whole thing was a little ridonculous... but my spirit man was full. If only I could learn to be so obedient.

What was it that I did right that day?

Likely nothing. I don't think it had anything to do with me except that a) I was prepared with information because it is what I do on a daily basis and b) instead of blowing off this stranger lady in the laundromat who so openly asked me questions, I gave her open answers that allowed our conversation to flourish.

My prayers go out to the laundromat lady who shared much of her heart and situation and remained realistic, but hopeful. You left an imprint on my heart.

B.