About Laundromats…

Several weeks ago I posted a piece about how we’d had a direct lightning strike at Doright Manor and as a result had lost our television sets, our washing machine, and Studly Doright’s ugly elliptical to Mother Nature. http://wp.me/p4O8fw-2YN

We immediately bought a new tv. The Masters golf tournament was on that weekend and there was no force on earth that could keep Studly from watching the action in his own house, sitting in his favorite chair, in front of his own tv. No sports bars for my man. Take that, lightning!

I called the GE service line as soon as we realized the washer was kaput, and they scheduled a repairman to come out on Friday of that very week. I went ahead and took some stuff to the laundromat because I hate letting laundry get ahead of me. Plus, I kind of like laundromats. They’re great people watching venues. 

On my first visit a man hit on me. His move was to compliment me on my choice of dryers. “You got the best dryers. Those are my favorites,” he said.

Immediately after he asked me how old I was. 

“Sixty,” I replied.

“You sure don’t look 60. Wanna go out sometime?”

When I told him I was married he looked a little crestfallen, but as I turned back to my book I heard him tell the woman three dryers down, “You got the best dryers. Those are my favorites.” 

You win some; you lose some.

On my way home from the laundromat I got a call from the GE service center. Their repairman was sick. He didn’t want to spread his germs, so could he come on Wednesday of the following week? Not the best news, but what are you going to do? Of course I said that was fine and a date and time was agreed upon.

When the repairman arrived on Wednesday he was professional and courteous. It took him all of three minutes to tell me what was wrong. And another minute to tell me he didn’t have that particular part and the soonest he could get it would be the next week. I was a little disappointed, but on the bright side, I might get a second chance with DryerMan! 

Unfortunately DryerMan wasn’t at the laundromat the following week. And there weren’t all that many other folks there. So much for people watching. 

The repairman returned today. I’d received the replacement part in the mail earlier in the week, so now all that was left was for him to install it. Except he ordered the wrong part.

He apologized profusely. “You know I was sick last week.”

“Wait,” I said. “I thought you were sick the week you cancelled on me, and that you didn’t come out because you didn’t want to spread germs….”

“Well, I was better, but still not a hundred percent.”

I fumed silently.

He ordered the part, and we set a time for him to come out. As he left he said, “I’m really sorry. I feel your pain.”

Harrumph. I’m going in search of a man who understands me–where is DryerMan when you need him!

Maybe I should revert to the old ways of doing laundry. Lightning never took one of these babies down.