Life As Performance Art 195

I did laundry yesterday. It was amusing and frustrating. For years I was washing my clothes very early in the morning, sometimes as early as 5 am, or even 4 am. But I really got tired of interacting with particularly difficult tenants who prefer the small hours of the morning because they do not do well with other people, so it is better for them to feel as if they are the only ones who live here. Conflict with any of those difficult neighbours, hasn't happened often, but even once a year is still far too often, especially at 5 am. I originally started doing laundry early in the morning because the laundry facilities were getting very crowded in the daytime, and I had to struggle so hard for getting empty machines, often with some very selfish and inconsiderate tenants to compete with, that for my own emotional survival I resorted to the early mornings, and being a creature of habit, this turned into quite the routine for me. But now, all those selfish idiots are gone, and we seem to have a crop of some pretty decent tenants here right now. And the laundry room never seems to be getting quite so monopolized as before. So, coming home from work at around 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday, there was one very elderly tenant (I understand he is a World War II veteran well into his nineties and still completely independent). He is also very pleasant, friendly and positive, which could have some bearing on why he is still alive and kicking. He was just putting his clothes in one of the dryers, and like me, was only using one machine for one load, which really makes me like him all the more, given that there are only three washers and three dryers serving more than sixty tenants. When I came back down to put my clothes in the dryer, a young woman who is also pleasant and friendly, was putting her single load in one washing machine. We had a pleasant chat, but I was distracted, and I think that I didn't properly turn on the dryer, so, when I came back an hour later, my clothes were damp and I had to actually turn the machine on. Which was really okay, because I had plenty of work to do upstairs, getting more art course material ready, and also fitting in a much needed nap. Then came the sock trap. I returned to the laundry room an hour later, everything was dry, but then I noticed a wet sock that looked like one of my own on the side of the washer, and imagined that the other tenant had noted it and put it there for me, and such acts of courtesy never go unnoticed or unappreciated. So, I took it with my other clothes back to my apartment. When I emptied my clean laundry onto my bed, I saw that I already had two of those socks, forgetting that I had two pairs, so I returned the wet sock promptly to the laundry room. In the meantime, the other tenant was trying to find a favourite article of underwear that had somehow gone missing. I had to return to the laundry room to retrieve the sock and we both kind of agreed that there must be a malevolent genie active that day in the laundry room. Even if I was a bit grumpy when I finally got my sock back, I had to admit it was funny, and I actually enjoyed the contact with other tenants, including the Colombian elephant who lives upstairs from me, when I waited for her in the elevator. She is actually a lovely young woman who is from Bogotá (and since I have a close friend who lives in Bogotá, this helps me like her all the more), and there was something about our friendly contact in the elevator that helped me feel less irritated a bit later when she was knocking around a bit in her apartment upstairs. I plan to go on doing laundry after work, probably on Tuesdays. This morning I am wearing the same socks. The one I rescued from the laundry room has a hole in it. I might wear it anyway, just for today.