Laundry: Now with more danger!

Three more loads of laundry done today. And a new pile of dirty stuff has already accumulated in it's place. Feh.

If you have ever used a public laundry facility you know what I mean when I speak of the residue left behind by some patrons. I just go "ick" when I open a machine and there is a mass of hair right on top or when I open the dryer lint catcher and find it full of (for lack of a better word) human fluff. Well I use the laundry room in the basement of our apartment building. It used to be kept very clean and maintained until the new super arrived. Now the machines need to be wiped down each time I go and there is a weird odor in the air that is suspicious (haven't found an explanation for that one yet).

Anyways, I was down there rejoicing that I was pulling the last load out of the dryer when a trashy looking larger lady walked into the room. She was followed by a rather sad looking teenage boy (16-17 maybe) who looked like he'd rather be eating glass then helping his Mom with laundry. She was grousing about something and he was just rolling his eyes and she barked at him to take the loads out of washer 3 and 4 while she unloaded the two dryers next to me. How did I watch all this you ask? Even if you didn't ask, I'm going to tell you: there is this large folding table in the middle of the room that allows for excellent spying (eg. what kind of underwear the little old lady down the hall wears - thong! She probably sees more action then me - it isn't fair) - but I digress. Ok so she pulls out her stuff and it's obviously a smaller childish gear - action hero pj's, small tighty-whiteys, etc and she yells at the other son - "look at what Duane's leaves me in his pockets to go through the laundry! What a brat!". So I look because the older brother doesn't really care.... and it's a collection of pennies, gum wrappers and other assorted little boy stuff... AND BATTERIES!!!!!! DOUBLE A BATTERIES!!!!! And this lady (proper use of the word - I think not) has put them through a wash and dry cycle and doesn't give a crap. She lobed them in the trash, while I stood there with my mouth hanging open with my blue blanket hanging half folded in mid-air. I never realized my laundry adventures were going to include dodging caustic acid. Wasn't it bad enough just having to clean up other people's hair before using the washer?

my mom dodges danger daily

To boot I also have a new neighbour who is culinary-challenged. Every meal time (except breakfast I've noted) I hear that smoke detector going off. I truly am living on the edge.