Laundromat

I don’t really know how long it’s been since I was in a laundromat, but easily the late 80s. Now, I am thankful I have plenty of clothes, but after three months it was time to bite the bullet. I’ve been putting this off for far too long. I didn’t know what to expect on a Sunday evening, but I wasn’t expecting it to be vacant, save for one overly cheerful gentleman on a bicycle who skedaddled shortly after I arrived.

Leaving my clothes in the car I walked in to get the lay of the land. I was actually expecting everything to be powered by chip-enabled cards, not cash, but once I noticed the machines themselves were unchanged from the 80s it made more sense. Only…I haven’t carried cash since 1999.

One trip to my bank’s ATM later and I was the proud owner of a crisp $20 bill - good thing too since I had to use a coin machine. Couldn’t remember the last time I’d held quarters, let alone 80 of them. Or powdered laundry detergent for that matter, one of which deposited incorrectly into a slot designed for a child’s hand. I looked around the empty laundromat but there were no children to be found. I decided it was better that way.

Once I got everything into the vintage machines using vintage currency, I sat on a bench outside where the remaining quarters fell out of my pocket and under the bench the moment I crossed my legs.

I discovered rather quickly how the "Speed Queen" washer managed to clean everything in record time - in short, it doesn't. Nothing was really cleaned, more just...wet. I won't say my clothes smelled worse when they came out of LODESTAR III, but they didn't smell much better.

I went home and took a shower.