The Laundry Mat that Binds

I don’t specifically recall the last time I’ve been to a full blown, real laundry mat – likely 13 years ago when I first came into the Air Force. I have used ‘public’ washing machines at hotels/lodging facilities since then, but going to a real laundry mat is a unique experience unto itself.

I came here late in the day, around eight thirty or so, expecting the place to be empty. However, there were some Asian looking females in the room of machines next door. The women quickly left after I arrived, so I really didn’t have time to observe them. A larger man with a huge tattoo on his left shoulder came in to the room I was in about ten minutes after I had arrived, and checked on a comforter which was in the dryer. After looking at the timer, he made a cell phone call, presumable to his wife/significant other, to let the person know that the dryer still needed fifteen minutes. He spent his time walking about the room, and inside and out of the laundry mat, before grabbing his comforter and leaving.

Next an elderly woman, perhaps between sixty five and seventy five, came in with a load of laundry. She put her wash into the machine, and then semi-timidly approached me to ask if I would mind watching her things, as she had left a small bag at home. (I suppose I should take that as a complement – that I look trustworthy. But judging by her brighter orange t-shirt, I can’t say that I am likely to want much of her clothes.  ) I assured her I would be around, and that watching the items would be no problem. I was truly amazed by how appreciative she was, and how she seemed to be acting as though it would be such a burden to me to ensure no one took her things. And so she left, returning ten to fifteen minutes later, and again expressed her sincerest gratitude. After loading her clothes into the machine, she settled into a chair to read a magazine off the nearby rack.

In the meantime, a young woman, perhaps in her mid twenties at most, and dressed in beige capris and a blue t-shirt, came in with her loads. She is passing her time by what appears to be studying. (Ahhh, I remember those days. Studying! What a concept!) Occasionally, the cell phone will ring, and she talks cheerfully into it, as well as rather loudly.

The last of the quartet currently here is a larger black woman, dressed in a one piece blue dress with white bold stripes on the upper half. Her back is to me, and so guessing her age would be rather difficult, but if pressed, I would say early to mid thirties. She appears to be standing guard over her clothes, as she is reading a book directly over the machine into which she has placed into her laundry. With a chuckle to myself, I think that anyone who would challenge her to her clothes would be a fool.

As I sit and watch the other three cohorts, I think that it kind of makes you wonder what kind of people are these folks? Where do they come from, and where are they going? Here at the laundry mat, we might as well all be one and the same – just some random person, trying to get their laundry done.

Isn’t it funny that something as simple as doing the wash can make you feel connected to the world? That something so simple can make you think that life is okay, and we are all going to be okay.

Well, my dryer is about finished, so it must be time to go back home to my own individual reality.