My dryer broke down around midnight last night. I'm going to be driving to New Mexico to start working at a summer camp next week and have three or four loads to do before I go. After failing to fix the machine I spent two hours attempting to string up an indoor clothesline with yellow paracord. Around 2am my cat began meowing because my line had prevented him from getting into the room he sleeps in. Frustrated, I lowered the line leaving my cold wet clothes on the floor all night.

After oversleeping this morning I arrived at a laundromat, it smelled clean and was nice. Several people were walking around, many of them looked like regulars. After having trouble getting any of the washers to accept my debit card, I went over to the front desk and the associate was happy to help. She showed me how to purchase the special cards it takes to start the machines and from there on, it was smooth sailing.

One of the most surprising things was the cost. It’s $5.50 per load in the washers and $1.00 for every 12 minutes in the dryer. I’m glad I only have to do this once, but I imagine if this is your only way to do laundry every week it can get quite expensive. Also, even though it was a beautiful summer day, I can picture driving across town in the middle of winter would make this a less than enjoyable experience.

I thought about going to see a movie tonight but with this laundry fiasco I didn’t think I had time. By coincidence, the laundromat is in the same parking lot as the movie theater. While doing laundry I was in perfect view to watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as they were playing it on big flat screen TVs. Since it took about two hours I saw almost the entire film which was enough to satiate my desire to see a movie. Harry Potter is one of my favorite franchise and getting to see it at the laundromat made my terrible day a lot better.

As a whole, the experience was nice. The interior of the building was clean, the washers and dryers worked well. While waiting I overheard some strangers begin a pleasant conversation about their lives and that made me happy. People were friendly, courteous and kind, what more could you ask for.