April Makeup, Vol. 2

21APR2006

Friday at 0800 is the best time to do laundry. There’s just me and the popcorn lady at the Lavenderia. The TV’s are off, and I don’t have to worry about little rugrats running about screaming. Just me and Tool and this here journal/diary.
I love doing laundry. It is my favorite chore. Lugging it here sucks, but the act itself is so easy. I used to wish that we had a washing machine when I was growing up, so I could volunteer to do laundry as my chore.
Compare it to the other chores about the house. Mowing the lawn is hot and dirty and makes you sneeze. Washing dishes is a tedious and torturous process in any household larger than two. Dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming; the four horsemen of cleanliness.
But laundry… ahhh, laundry! What do you do? You put it in the machine with soap, turn some knobs, and push a button. Then you read a book for a bit, do a crossword, whatever. The machine stops. You take your clean clothes, put it in the dryer or hang what shouldn’t go there, put a softener sheet in the dryer and press another button. Read some more, make a sandwich, again, whatever you feel like. The machine stops, you sort, fold and put it away. It’s a three-hour chore in which you work maybe fifteen minutes, and you get fine smelling clothes that are stain-free and snazzy! This officially qualifies as approaching the “high reward, low effort” nirvana.
So I get to sit here and contemplate the music and lyrics of Lateralus and enjoy a cool morning while machines do the lion’s share of the work.