Laundromats

I recently took a roadtrip, camping across Oklahoma for over a week. A couple of times, I found myself needing to wash laundry. I had intended to go to a bigger town’s laundromats, one that takes credit cards and has newer seats, making it easier to just sit back and dissociate. However, with some encouragement from my partner, I opted for laundromats in small towns. I’m so glad I did.

I met random people, that I will most likely never talk with again. This was my only window to ever get to have a conversation with these folks. A lady whose washing machine broke in October doing the laundry for her whole family, bedding and all. She needed eight washing machines and a trip to a store to pick up more laundry detergent. I met a man from a different state, that comes by once a month to empty quarters from all the quarter vending machines and to refill the machines with toys or candy. There was someone that had been trying and trying to get a particular stuffed animal from the claw machine. She bargained all her non-wanted claw machine winnings with the vendor machine guy, he simply opened up the the door for her and got her the wanted prize and refusing the stuffed animals she tried to give him. I learned about a group of hunters, who were from all across the U.S. but gathered annually for a hunting trip. We discussed the dangers of camping, the best steakhouses, and some great winter garden crops.

I had a small amount of time in these laundromats, but I have conversations that will stick with me for a while.