Lesson Learned

Last night was our second trip to the laundry mat. We, of course, waited until all of our laundry baskets were overflowing and Ryan had no boxers left to load up our car and trek our things down to the laundry mat. I'm a wuss so we go to one about 6 blocks away versus the one a little closer to the ghetto which is about 3 blocks away, and for the record, I think those extra 3 blocks are worth every second of my time....

The first time we went to the laundry mat it was kind of fun. We got there late (8:15pm) so we could only wash our clothes which isn't so bad since our dryer is still hooked up which means we were there for less than thirty minutes. We also just played cards the whole time so that whole twenty-four minutes that it took to wash something like forty pounds of laundry flew by but last night, last night was a different story. First off, we get there at around 7:20pm knowing that we would have plenty of time to wash and dry our clothes. When we get there, all but one jumbo washing machine is broken so we have to use four small washing machines (and at $3 each it sure isn't cheap!). It's also like 80 degrees outside so probably somewhere around 95 degrees inside the "mat" (since I now go there I can name it whatever I'd like, thank you very much). So Ryan and I go sit outside with this group of kids who must be in DC doing a high school internship or something like that. After about twenty minutes, my lovely fiancée ditches me to go play soccer and leaves me at the laundry mat alone... so I switch the laundry over to the dryer and sit there to wait.

Note to self: Always bring something to do at the laundry mat and a fan, most definitely a fan.

Those must have been the longest forty-eight minutes of my life waiting for this laundry to dry. At this point it's like 8:15pm and there is no one in the "mat" except me and the attendant. Although he's nice, it was super awkward and the place is small... very small. He also had to lock us in once it turned 8:30pm since the place closes at 9pm (last wash at 8:15pm which we learned the first time). So I was bored, sitting in a 95 degree room with me, the attendant and some horrible game show on the TV (which I clearly watched). I actually watched the last 4 minutes on my dryer (note to self: if you think it's hot standing in a laundry mat, just go stand by the dryers) and must have been the happiest girl in the world when it was done. I also vowed to never be locked in a laundry mat with one other person (who has the keys to said laundry mat) ever again.

Mistake #1: Make your fiancée stay there with you the whole time so he can share in the pain fun.