The Laundry Room Brawl

It’s a Monday afternoon and I just got home from work. The only thing I've been thinking about all day is going home and taking a nap before spending the night at WSU. But atlas, I come home and find myself cooking and cleaning instead. I decide to throw some laundry in the wash, since I cannot recall the last time I did this (which is how you know it’s time). I walk into the laundry room and find 1 of the 3 washers was out of order, while the other 2 had clothes in them. One of these washers had a laundry basket on the top, so I put the damp laundry into the basket and put my load in. Now, that may sound rude, but this is what people do in our apartment complex. As far as I know, there is only one laundry room per buildings. That’s 3 washers, and 3 dryers for 12+ apartments, that’s 48+ people. Not to mention, at least one of these appliances is always out of order. Anyways, it’s very common to come find your clothes politely moved, no matter how close you keep time on when your cycle should be done. Therefore, I always leave my hamper down there, so people have a place to move my things if they need the machine. 

Anyhow, I headed back down to the laundry room approximately 1 hour later. As I approach the machine, I see that there is a note next to my hamper. It read “My clothes weren’t even done – so your cycle ran for about 5 mins. Thanks! *rolls eyes*” I look in my hamper, nothing. Immediately my mind was racing with where this person could have put my things. I assumed they removed my clothes to continue washing theirs, despite that the machine had been finished when I had first gone down. However, the dryer under their basket was running, and my clothes were still in the washing machine. I could tell by the way my clothes were in the washer that they had never been removed. All the more confused, I realized that this person had not removed my clothes at all or rewashed theirs, they had simply hit the stop button on my machine just to spite me. 

I coughed up another four quarters and restarted my machine, then quickly retreated to my apartment. I felt rather conflicted inside. Part of me felt annoyed that I would have to do an extra hour of laundry and spend more of my quarters. Part of me was anxious because I dislike conflict. And part of me was fuming that someone did this. It was one thing to switch our laundry if they truly believed their clothes hadn’t finished washing, but to turn my machine off just because they were mad at me. They were drying their clothes, so I clearly hadn’t messed with their process. I paused for a moment and sat on my floor, thinking of what I could do, if there was anything I could do. 

My anger quickly diminished as I decided that I cannot be mad at someone based on assumptions, as they did for me. Who is to say that this person was not on a serious time crunch and was fuming that I potentially messed with their things? Maybe they are going through something in their life. Maybe they are having the worst day of their life, and I put the icing on the cake. Whatever it was, I had upset them. I had upset them enough to provoke an actual reaction. I decided to write a note back. Despite my first instincts, it was going to be a nice note. You can’t expect a positive outcome from a negative reaction. Romans 12:9 

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”

I wrote a note saying “I’m not sure, but I think you may be mistaken about the time you started your cycle, or maybe the machine messed up like they always do. Either way, the machine was off when I put my stuff in. I’m so sorry if I caused you any inconvenience. I hope you have a great day!” I folded the note and put it into a plastic baggy with a couple dollars worth of quarters. I planned to put this in their laundry basket when I went to put my clothes in the dryer. However, I started getting nervous as the hour went by. What if I went down there and they were in there? What if they were rude about it? I’m not good with confrontation such as this. I decided to see if any of the girls would be home around 4, when my cycle was done. Luckily, they all came home just in time. We agreed that Charli was the best to go with me, as she’d be the most fit to beat someone up in the event of a laundry brawl. 

As we made our way to the steps, we saw two girls standing in the parking lot outside of the laundry room staircase. Upon seeing us, they both turned and headed in the direction of the stairs. We caught up with them and confirmed our suspicions that they were heading to the same place we were. The four of us crammed into the tiny laundry room. One of the girls began taking laundry out of the dryer, confirming that she was the suspect (or victim in her eyes). I decided to just immediately address the elephant in the room, as the door behind me closed, taking with it any chance of escape. I asked if she was the one who left the note, to which she replied with a hesitant yes. I proceeded to explain myself and apologize, then handed her the bag with the note. She said thanks. And that was it. The most disappointing and awkward ending do a story. Charli helped me quickly transfer my clothes to the dryer, while this girl removed her clothes from the other two dryer machines. I have never felt so uncomfortable or eager to get out of a room before. 

I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was that based on observation, I realized this girl had brought her friend with her as back up, just as I had. She seemed just as uncomfortable and nervous as me. For all she knew, I could have been some big bulky man, fuming that someone touched his delicates. She seemed surprised that I was so nice about it. That is exactly the reaction I wanted. I don't know her, nor what is going on in her life or mind. But I do know that I was able to defuse a situation with kindness.

I know that was extremely anticlimactic. But it was the most interesting thing to happen to me today and I find it funny for some reason. I hope you enjoyed this random little story.