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An Ode to Laundry

Matteo Curci

For years in San Francisco, I lived without a washer and dryer. Every week, I had a standing invitation at my happily-married friends’ home, where they would feed me dinner while I would intermittently attend to laundering sheets and towels in their basement. I have fond memories of us sitting around the kitchen table together, but it evoked a sense of childlike singleness. That’s why, these days, I LOVE my in-house washer and dryer. There’s not a load I take for granted.

Photo by Matteo Curci

Discussion

12 comments for “An Ode to Laundry”

  1. Leyla says:

    I make a point to enjoy any childlike side effects of my life situation. When my sister and her husband are driving somewhere wiry their toddler don, I get to sit in the back as if I’m also one of their kids on a family outing…and I’m the oldest one in the car!!! Playing games with my nephew is more interesting than talking to either of them. You were a bit more developed, you were like a college student coming home on the weekends to do laundry. Not many people get to relive their youth!!

  2. Leyla says:

    That was supposed to say “with their toddler son.” Fingers can’t manage the touch screen this early in the morning.

  3. Robin says:

    I lived for many years in a rental without laundry and used to sneak into the graduate student housing across the street early in the mornings (a friend gave me the combination to the locked entrance) to do my laundry. It was always so fraught.
    So I really enjoy having my own washer and also having a yard where I can hang laundry outside. There’s no better smell than crisp sheets right off the clothesline!

  4. Claire says:

    Yes, I think doing laundry at a friend’s place would depress me. I am so glad I can demand and afford a place with a washer/dryer/dishwasher. Granted if I lived somewhere wildly expensive like SF things might be different.

  5. Petra says:

    Oh, yes, the joys of an in-home washer and dryer! I always HATED going to the laundromat and was very fortunate to live next to the building’s laundry room when I lived in a Delaware apartment complex (I was also an early riser, so there was NEVER any competition for the machines. But I still hated having to go and check if the laundry was done (not to mention the need for a constant supply of quarters). When I moved to Iowa, the laundry facility was in a separate building, so I had to go outdoors. This is a real joy when it’s 3°F. Now, in my own home, I LOVE being able to do laundry if and when I want to.

  6. Amy says:

    When I bought my place, in-house washer and dryer was one of my “must-haves.” The freedom to do laundry when or how I wanted, without having to cram everything into as few loads as possible to save money or compete with neighbors for machines, has been wonderful.

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