Laundry Room

“You left your cart. Somebody take it.” It seemed strange that the building superintendent would call our apartment to tell me this. After all, I always leave my cart parked against a washer in the basement laundry during my once a week wash day. However, I thanked the super for his concern and hopped onto the elevator. I needed to go down anyway to throw the clothes into the dryer.

“Has there been a problem in the building?” I inquired as I pulled clothes from the washer. I really like the super. He works hard to keep the building clean. He is from Albania, and doesn’t speak or understand much English.

“People of the building good. Renters, I don’t know.” He left to empty the trash, but soon returned. This time he walked to a washer and picked up a card.

Card not cart! The card I used to start the washers! I’d just put $20 on it. I thanked him profusely. I stuck this card into the slot to start the dryer, and immediately noticed that it had $9 left (not $20) on it. I pushed start though I knew it wasn’t my card. Mine was in the cart pocket where it belonged. I had used someone else’s money. I told the super that it wasn’t mine. He took it.

An hour later, I left the apartment to return to the basement, but then thought, why not take the $1.50 that I used from someone else. I went back into the apartment and got the money. Down in the laundry room, an Asian lady wearing a yellow blouse was looking around and then went to the machine to add money to a card. Sure enough, she’d lost her card. I did not speak her language, but I made sure she understood that the super had her card, and I gave her the $1.50. When she kindly tried to return the money, I raised my hands in protest.

A week ago, the laundry room visit was with a tenant who came here from Argentina as a young girl. She and I discussed culture and how we have so many different ethnic groups living around us. It is such a blessing to observe and try to understand the people of God’s great world, and sometimes we misunderstand.

That’s my Friday evening ramblings. I suppose I could do a whole series of laundry room episodes. Have a blessed weekend. Berniece