however, my bathtub in upstate ny doesn't have the same ambiance and i admit that i am thankful for the laundromat option.
when i moved to troy i started out at the bright and shiny one up near the bridge heading out of town, the one in one of those awkwardly unnecessary strip mall setups with too much parking, a tanning salon, and a recruiting office, the one recommended to me by co-workers.
later i happened upon one up the hill a little west of there, the one near a really great goodwill, a decent grocery store, and oddly enough an even fancier tanning salon. this one had more traffic and more bells and whistles, and more folding tables...and don't forget the really great goodwill store.
but today i decided to go to the one on my side of town, the one actually closest to my house, the one with no name and no wifi and no super strength stain sensing washers. i could describe the place but im sure you have an idea in your head that is about right so i will skip to the important part.
as soon as i opened the door i was greeted with a friendly smile and hello, not by an owner or manager...just by the person who happened to be first to make eye contact with me. i got an absurd amount of quarters and headed back out to start unloading. as soon as the few folks gathered inside saw how long it had been since i had done laundry, they filed out into the snow without much ado to help me unload and assemble my bags and piles inside. not like it was a big favor, or like i was helpless...just like it was whatcha do.
once i got my loads going i learned the gentleman with the cane who had greeted me and carried my darks was named Paul. he served time in the Air Force and the Army, he has a niece playing ball at George Mason, and he thought my dog was quite handsome. i moved a little closer to hear his story about Korea and was greeted by Jeff and Sam. Jeff was rolling cigarettes and offered everyone in the place one before heading out to smoke one himself. He thought it was amazing that Luke was being so good in the car and laughed at how he was tracking my every move through the windows of the car and the building. He inquired about how old my four legged friend was and what kind of breed mix could have made him so darn big.
later, when i came around the corner with a huge armload of sheets and of course my dear Purple, two young guys who had been having an animated conversation in Spanish since before my arrival conceded the last free dryer to me with exaggerated gestures serving to replace our mismatched words. i thanked them with the same sweeping animation and moved to the window where a young man with a quietly familiar accent struck up a conversation that was immediately interrupted when we saw a face through the glass that we both recognized. i knew the face as one of the bartenders where i work, and james knew it as the face of his new math professor at the college where he is studying to be a civil engineer when he returns to his home country in West Africa. when everything was dry and folded, my new friends Jeff and Sam wished me well in my studies and gave Luke a goodbye scratch behind the ears. i bought them both a slice of pizza. james helped me fill my car with clean clothes and walked my dog around the block while i picked up a bunch of stuff that i had dropped trying to operate pockets with mittens on.
there is nothing wrong with those other, "nicer" laundromats...and certainly nothing specifically BAD ever happened to me at any of them. but in 6 months nothing that has made me happy to be alive and part of the human race has either. and certainly nothing worth blogging about in the middle of the night. i like my side of town.
it sounds like a good side of town to be on
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