Dilemma

by Marinka on October 23, 2012

We have a laundry room in the basement of our apartment building and every time I go down there I wonder if I’m going to be dismembered.

Well, that’s not true, but it certainly makes this post sound more dramatic and interesting. And I think we can all agree that dramatic and interesting is more important than “truth”. Although wouldn’t it be crazy if I were dismembered the next time I went there? I mean, what are the chances?

Anyway.

We have laundry cards in the laundry room, and every week, I go down with my cart of laundry, put everything in, slide the card into the machine and get the “LOW” flashing sign. Then I sigh heavily, get back into the elevator to go to my apartment, get my credit card and re-lower myself into the basement to face possible dismemberment once again and refill the laundry card.

And every time I refill it, I’m faced with the dilemma of how much money to put on it:

I can’t choose $10 because that’s not enough for me to do all the laundry, so I choose $20, because (and I’m sorry for getting all mathematical on you) that’s the next lowest amount. I am flirting with the idea of $30, but there is no way that I’ll ever put $50. And do you know why?

Yes, part of it is that I worry that I’ll lose the card with that fortune loaded on it. But another reason is that I’m afraid that if I’m in a tragic and life-ending accident, my family won’t find my laundry card and the $50 will be lost forever. And even though my loved ones will hopefully find a way to go on without me (after a lot of grieving and Husbandrinka forsaking all other women forever, obviously) the loss of the $50 will be impossible to overcome.

So I reload my laundry card with $20 time after time, and hope that the next time I go to the laundry room I will remember my credit card. And that it’s not my time to be dismembered.

One year ago ...

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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

suburbancorrespondent
Twitter:
October 23, 2012 at 9:04 am

You need Instant Refill, like on EasyPass.

Reply

hokgardner
Twitter:
October 23, 2012 at 9:41 am

I’m still trying to process the whole laundry card thing. You mean you don’t have to round up quarters and hope you have enough for most of the wash?

Reply

tracy@sellabitmum
Twitter:
October 23, 2012 at 10:17 am

You’ve been watching 666 Park Avenue haven’t you?

Reply

joeinvegas October 23, 2012 at 10:44 am

Wow, that is a lot different than having to go down with a pocket full of quarters. Probably it also means washing is a lot more expensive in your building than I remember it being.

Reply

Mexmom October 23, 2012 at 11:14 am

Do you have to pay to do laundry? OMG I hate it as it when it is free.

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Olga
Twitter:
October 23, 2012 at 1:13 pm

I offered to do my MIL laundry and of course lost her card with (gasp) $70 on it. She didn’t even roll her eyes and said something along the lines ‘oh you poor thing, your toddler distracted you plus you might have been dismembered in that damn laundry room’ (ok, not the last phrase). Best MIL ever! 🙂

Reply

The mama bird diaries
Twitter:
October 23, 2012 at 3:04 pm

For that amount of money, can’t you just drop them at the laundry place?! No chance of dismemberment.

Reply

Quiana October 23, 2012 at 7:35 pm

I had a scary basement laundry like that years ago in my first apartment in Boston, and I got locked out and was down there over 30 minutes and nearly in tears when my then-boyfriend now husband didn’t come and retrieve me. It was cold and pouring raining out and I had to run outside in the dark all the way around my block with my laundry basket and detergent. I gave him an earful about how he was going to leave me to die. I can look back and laugh now but at the time was so traumatized especially because homeless men used to go in there and sleep. So glad those days are over!

Reply

Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes October 24, 2012 at 7:32 am

You pay to do laundry? What a strange country America is…

Reply

christy October 24, 2012 at 9:43 am

Wait. Apartments with seventeen bedrooms in NYC don’t come with laundry machines?!?!!?

Reply

Lady Jennie October 25, 2012 at 1:19 pm

I always used to feel like that too, especially when the laundry room was in the basement with fluorescent lighting.

Reply

Nelly
Twitter:
October 26, 2012 at 3:14 pm

Thank you. I will not complain about going to the basement in my own home anymore. Well, at least not for a few days. I say stick with the $20.

Reply

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