laundry in the city.
last night i went to the laundromat. i've been there a dozen times before, crowded and not crowded, daytime, nighttime. every trip has been more or less a success- no long waits for a dryer, no clothes bleached from something weird left in the washing machine, nothing. but last night was weird. real weird.first let me say that at the restaurant where i work, a lot of homeless people will come in and bum off people for leftovers or money. sometimes they steal our tip jars. but this happens twice, maybe three times a week. the stealing thing maybe once a month. everytime a manager will politely ask them to leave and make sure they actually do. well, last night at the laundromat, there was a bum. this really creepy guy who didn't look dirty or anything, but he must have been drunk or on something or both. but he kept wandering around picking up little bits of paper or trash that he thought was worth keeping. then he'd leave. then he'd come back. once, he asked the owner for the key to the bathroom. she told him no, it was only for customers. they knew he was a bum but they just kept letting him walk around.
i was sitting on a bench reading that stupid dave eggers book (i'm trying my damndest to finish it so i can read the new chuck palahniuk). i was ignoring him pretty sucessfully until he came up and sat next to me. alright. fine. he didn't smell or ask me for something or anything, so whatever. (do i sound like a bitch? i feel like i do. screw you.) then he got up and left. (i'm sorry! take me back.) but then he came back inside. he did this several times. at one point, during a particularly rowdy latino song from the jukebox, he started swaying. this was before he sat next to me.
then, an old woman with weird issues on where to put blush on her face sat down on the other side of the bench from me. it was enough room between us that if someone were to sit there, it would have felt like a violation of personal space. especially when there were plenty of other places to sit. so he sits right in between us. he pulls out a tupperware container full of some kind of liquid and drinks from it. at one point he put a santa hat on. the last straw was when he stood up and started swaying or stretching or something. whatever he was doing brought his body pretty close to my face. why was i being polite and staying there? this is when i went to lean against my washing machine. this guy sucked. ask him to leave!
it was made up for later on, however, when the cutest little girl, at most 3 years old, put on her sister's headphones and was singing beyonce's "crazy in love." it was even cuter when i recognized what she was singing. then she sang "baby boy." good lord, was it adorable. and beyonce rulz. her brother (the little girl, not beyonce. beyonce has a little sister named salon. i don't know if she has a brother. i'll find out and tell you), who was maybe 7 or 8, ran around the corner and jerked the headphones off of her ears on accident. she freaked out the way 3 year olds do, quietly but with an extreme look of pain and a small shout that makes it seem like they're about to cry. but they're not. they're just letting you know they're pissed.
i would too if someone were to steal my beyonce away from me.
love, kate
posted by kate @ 11:20 PM
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