Dirty on Washaterias

I've been pretty spoiled with access to a real washer and dryer. Spoiled is the wrong word, I never did take it for granted. It was a small pagan god like thing and I would leave offerings as best I could. I haven't bought a set of my own because I would detest moving them and having to make room for them. There is a nifty lil closet for them at home but I use that to house my Luddite supplies.

Tonight I drove around for one hour in search of just the right place to wash my towels, kitchen linens,colors, whites and unmentionables and couldn't find a thing. The only cool place was pretty packed; bright lights, too many people, too much activity, not for me tonight. The other washaterias were seedy, creepy, dirty and had too many doors leading in and out. I'd be too paranoid to read. It's the best way to get to know a neighborhood though...sit in their washateria for an hour.

While I was driving I was thinking of all the foul things I've seen go into a washer. Recently, as recent as a few months ago, the last time I was in one of those places, this woman hauled this enormous pillow in. That animal must have been 6x6 at the very least 5x5. It reaked of dirty, old, diseased, moldy, wet, sour canine. She stuffed it into one of the huge commercial machines with the peekaboo window on the side. I knew the machine was broken and would only eat her quarters but I said nothing and watched as I held my breath to avoid the odor. I didn't say anything because she was so smug. Smiling to herself, arrogant with the thought that it was perfectly okay to wash such a thing in public where the human public does it's laundry. he was unashamed, too proud of her dirty laundry. I though,Wow, had the machine worked I would have been so out of there. Can you imagine hot, steaming water hitting that horrid bag-o-dog. I still gag at the thought of that potential, unbelievable stench ...

So she packs it in, the thing doesn't fit but she wrangles it until it does and slams the door hard and lock. She took out about half a cup of detergent that was in a ziploc in her pocket and proceeds to pour it into the dispenser and adds more quarters then leaves. Only a half a cup! ONLY A HALF CUP!! She doesn't wait to see it work or check out why water and motion are not happening. I look out the window and she has pulled into the traffic and is on her way to whatever but not to buy a new 5x5 or 6x6 which is what she should do instead of trying to keep this one up. I stare back at the machine with the thought that this is the last time I ever use a washateria. I had used that machine once after a very clean lady removed her very cute sheets from it, all smelling of lavender. Washaterias aren't so bad I thought then.

At that moment the machine door popped open and bag-o-dog started to crawl out. Literally. It puffed out and little by little onto the floor (like the blob did in that film) until it looked like it was just checking out the place before it decided to really leap out. My dryer went off and I stepped around it, got my clothes and started to load up. As I walked back in I noticed quarters sticking out. Machine was so obviously broken. Anyone could tell after the first quarter that they weren't going in and they weren't going to do laundry. No one was there and I was feeling a bit annoyed so I took the five quarters that were sticking out. Figured, so what, nothing is going to happen here anyway. Bought a lotto ticket,left and never went back.