2003-06-20 - 11:58 a.m.

Yesterday was laundry day for me � big laundry day. I went through all of my clothes and washed everything that had been worn and everything that had been hanging in the closet for so long that it was no longer fresh. Needless to say that means a tremendous number of loads of wash. Too many for the apartment laundry room, so off to the laundromat I went.

I have a love/hate relationship with the laundromat. I love being able to use a double or triple load washer and I love that all of my loads can wash at once. I have a real issue with some of the people that are there. Actually, I really only dislike one type. The dreaded Laundromat Lothario. I am sure you have seen him. He always dresses up to do his laundry. He never brings more than one load of laundry, and usually forgets his soap � that way he can ask you for some of yours. He always has a greasy lounge lizard vibe that emanates off of him. He also spends more time staring at you than he does talking to you. All in all, he is a harmless but creepy sort.

I had high hopes yesterday that I had escaped the clutches of the Laundromat Lothario. I had done all of my washing and was taking clothes out of the dryer when he showed up. Sure enough he came with his requisite one load and no soap. Sure enough he parked himself on the bench right next to me. Then he stared at me while I folded and packed up my laundry. Sadly, he was far from silent � although instead of talking to me, he talked on his cell phone � in a foreign language. I know he was talking about me though; I watched him follow the movement of my chest as I shook clothes out, folded them, and put them in my laundry baskets. Evidently I have highly entertaining breasts. I haven�t decided if I should be proud or embarrassed that my chest entertained a complete stranger for nearly 20 minutes. When he could see that I was nearly done, he got off the phone so that he could concentrate on watching me. He actually looked sad when I carted all of my clean clothes to my car.

I had to suppress the urge to wave to him as I drove away. Somehow it just seemed cruel.

Until Next Time�

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