Dirty Laundry
Apr. 2nd, 2008 11:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfield"Guilt is the price we pay willingly for doing what we are going to do anyway"
- Isabelle Holland
Tonight was laundry night. We don't have washers-and-dryers in our apartment unit, but there is a central laundry room in the basement. The whole process of separating, cleaning, drying and folding is a pain but it's the schlepping down and back that is the real bother. It's especially problematic when the laundry room is busy, like it was tonight.
When I was in college, and the laundry room was busy, and I was afraid someone would claim a washer or dryer before I could use it, I would sometimes tape a handwritten "out of order" note on the machine. From my point of view, it was genius. Sure, someone could, should and probably would doubt the veracity of this handwritten note, but would they ultimately disregard it if there was a chance that the machine could totally ruin their clothes? Surely not.
I was effectively taking advantage of the kindness of others -- the kindness of the thoughtful sort of person who would leave a note of warning for future launderers. So I feel bad about what I did. I genuinely do. But I also still feel pretty proud of myself for coming up with the scheme.
Is it really possible to feel bad about something and proud about it at the same time?
- Isabelle Holland
Tonight was laundry night. We don't have washers-and-dryers in our apartment unit, but there is a central laundry room in the basement. The whole process of separating, cleaning, drying and folding is a pain but it's the schlepping down and back that is the real bother. It's especially problematic when the laundry room is busy, like it was tonight.
When I was in college, and the laundry room was busy, and I was afraid someone would claim a washer or dryer before I could use it, I would sometimes tape a handwritten "out of order" note on the machine. From my point of view, it was genius. Sure, someone could, should and probably would doubt the veracity of this handwritten note, but would they ultimately disregard it if there was a chance that the machine could totally ruin their clothes? Surely not.
I was effectively taking advantage of the kindness of others -- the kindness of the thoughtful sort of person who would leave a note of warning for future launderers. So I feel bad about what I did. I genuinely do. But I also still feel pretty proud of myself for coming up with the scheme.
Is it really possible to feel bad about something and proud about it at the same time?
