Keep Your Eyes Open

The overwhelming aroma of detergent and damp clothes fills every inch of the room. The coins rattle from the money machine as they hit the silver tray. Several TVs are muffled in the background as the local news and “Entertainment Tonight” play on their screens.

The laundromat is lined with silver and black dryers along the back wall. Moving toward the center, there are two rows of chrome washers with clothes sloshing and turning in them. Near the front of the laundromat, black plastic tables and chairs line the massive windows.

A standing sign states the laundromat offers one free cup of coffee every day from 7 to 10 a.m. Off in the corner stands a vending machine and a light gray, metal bookshelf that has a sign scribbled in child’s handwriting in multiple colors reading, “If you have books you don’t want anymore, leave here!”

Columbia Laundry is quite busy for a Tuesday evening. A group of African-Americans stand by the washing machines. “Look at all that soap and bubbles,” a young African-American girl in a light pink T-shirt and black sneakers says. A woman and boy stand beside her as the boy fills the machine. The woman yells at the boy, “Why can’t you follow my directions!” The young boy reaches into the machine and grabs the white garment. After they finish the last load, the boy picks up the basket and the mother at the door says, “Come kids, let’s go,” and the children file behind her out the front door.

A young, blond white boy in a green shirt, black shorts and silver gym shoes calls out, “Wait Mom, where does this go?” The pregnant mother strolls over to her son and replies, “in this bin.”

The mother hands a handful of white socks to a teenage girl. “Mommy, can I get a snack?” the young boy asks. The mother replies with a simple “yes.” The girl with long blond hair, wearing a red shirt and black shorts, helps the boy collect Cheez-Its from the vending machine. After they finish their laundry, they head toward the door. The girl turns back to get the purple leather purse her mother left sitting on the washer.

A Hispanic man dressed in a green and black striped shirt mumbles Spanglish on the phone. A Hispanic woman wearing a bleach-stained black T-shirt and dark-wash jeans walks around sweeping the laundromat with a yellow broom. The man ends his phone call and begins to talk in Spanish with the Hispanic woman.

A middle-aged woman and preteen boy wander into the laundromat, the boy donning a blue shirt with a bulls-eye on it and light-wash jeans that cut off just above his gray New Balance shoes. His left wrist holds a gold-face watch with a brown leather band. He carries a few single dollar bills to the money machine then cashes them in for coins. Once he picks up the coins, he walks over to the Hispanic woman and hands her a quarter. She replies, “Thank you very much.” He tries to mumble something back but words barely come out. While he appeared to be in his late teens, his behavior and words were similar to those of a young child.

The woman with the preteen boy is dressed in a light pink button-down and light-wash jeans. Her oval-shaped glasses push back her light brown hair. On her left wrist is an identical watch to the boy’s, the only difference being in the color of the watch’s face. The boy helps her put quarters in the washer as she loads it with clothes. She wears latex gloves to handle the clothes and detergent.

The boy hands her a large white bottle of All, and she pours the detergent into the wash. The boy reaches for a jean coin purse with flowers on it and pulls out two more quarters. The woman says to him, “Come here, George, we need to put the quarters in this one now.” “Good boy,” she says as he walks over to her. “Go make sure the other washer was started. Go ahead and press start.”