Will beg for quarters…

Raise your hand if you enjoy doing laundry….

Anyone?

I didn’t think so. Whether or not you mind doing laundry, I think everyone has some aspect of it that they do not enjoy. For me, it is folding. It can take me several days before I get around to folding my laundry. When I lived in an apartment with my own washer and dryer, this usually meant that I ended up throwing the entire load back in the dryer to dewrinkle (apparently this is not a word). Now, I live in an apartment building with a shared washer and dryer for each floor. This means I have to collect quarters like I’m homeless begging for change- except the only one contributing is my boyfriend. Then I have to silently stalk the machines waiting for a moment when nobody else is using them so I can run back to my apartment, grab my clothes and detergent and throw them in before somebody else lays claim. To be honest, I don’t mind. I really don’t. It is still the folding that gets me every time.

Plus, I’ve met some great people while being a creep eyeing the laundry machines. There was an elderly man who told me about his move to the nursing home while he folded his tighty whiteys and placed them in his rolling cart. I learned a lesson about ensuring the dryer lint trap is cleaned before using otherwise you may need to throw down double the quarters for an extra drying session- nobody needs that.

And then, there was the one stain in the apartment building laundry cycle. There is someone in the building who will stop your clothes spinning mid-session to throw their own clothes into the machine, leaving yours in a pile or in the basket if you so happened to leave it nearby. The first time this happened, I stormed back to my apartment to write an irate note. I wielded a permanent marker like it was a weapon and slashed letters into a piece of paper as if my life (and laundry) depended on it. Then I strode back to the machines and left the note on top of the machine they took over. I went back to my apartment, sat down and then after a few minutes slunk back to retrieve my note. I just don’t have it in me to go through with such a bold act. Maybe next time I will. I’ll call the tighty whitey man and have him wait with me for moral support.

What’s your least favorite part of doing laundry?