#39

Whoa. I just had some weird déjà vu...like in the middle of going to sit this down, I just had some freaky déjà vu.


Anyway. ugh.

Okay. So back to what I was actually going to write about: It may surprise you that, in my 5 years of living here, I've never had to do my laundry at a laundromat. I've been very fortunate in the past to be in a such a situation where it was not necessary. For the first 4 years (college) I was in the dorms, and we had free laundry. You had to make sure you were there to move your shit right on time so, in a way, it was LIKE being at a laundromat. But you didn't have to sit there, and it was free, and it was in the building. For the past year, I was in an apartment that had a washer and dryer in the kitchen. They were little, but they did the trick. Again, free, in the same APARTMENT, and you didn't have to sit there.

Now that I'm in my own apartment where we can neither afford, nor are allowed to have, a washer-dryer on the premises, my situation has changed. Fortunately, we've got 2 laundromats within a 3-block radius. Also fortunately, both of them have drop-off service. Which is great. Since I don't feel like sitting there. Now, I AM spending about $1/lb for the service, but considering that I haven't paid for laundry for the past 5 years, I think I'm doing pretty good. Plus, I don't have to sit there. The only catch, now, is that my laundry is ready for pick up. But it's raining. And I'd have to get to the mat, pick up the laundry, and walk back the 3 blocks with it in the rain, which kind of defeats the purpose of having had them dry the clothes, right?

Never having had to use this kind of service, I'm almost curious as to whether or not they're going to hate me for not picking up my laundry just yet. I mean, they've got a business to run, and I'm upsetting their pattern, right? I'm sure. On a semi-related note, there are a couple of services in NYC that will actually PICK UP your laundry and DROP IT OFF for you. Of course, the turn-around time is a slightly larger margin, but you don't really have to do anything. Some of these services (if you want to go really high-end) will even package your clothes in little department store boxes with scented tissue paper. I'm serious. But I have neither the funds, nor the patience, nor the lack of self-respect to actually use something like that. For now. See me after I've won the lottery and have less self-respect.