Laundromat Review

Alright, here's a weird fact about me: I love laundromats. Maybe it's the many fond memories I have as a child, talking to other kids and playing the stand up arcade games (I rocked Centipede as well as this fighting game I've only seen in Canada, that was like a generic double dragon). I have been known to hang out in laundromats when I've wanted to do some writing. No laundry, just there for the atmosphere. 

Actually, contrary to my love of laundromats, I hate doing laundry. You might say, 'well who doesn't?" but believe me, those people exist, and they baffle me.

Anyways I did have to do some laundry, and I stopped at a place that has changed hands in the last year. It's a rundown establishment, that somehow never recovered after all the robberies a couple years back. Mind you they did invest enough money for some new machines, and a redesign of the place. But even with that, it looks horrible. Here's a quick tour:

Pardon the quality of this shot, but I didn't have enough light. This is just a sample of several machines with clothes left in it. When I talked to the previous owners he mentioned that he threw away an average of 200 pounds of clothes a week.

That would be a nail. How lovely would that be to shred your clothes on that?

I love this. $1.25 for 8 minutes in the drier. But the real kicker? 50 cents more for the privilege of an upper drier. 

Time for the coup de grâce. Why whatever could that be up in the ceiling?

Let's see if we can't get a little closer to the mystery.

There you have it. The amazing radio system is in fact a tape deck, that they wedged up in the ceiling. It plays a local mix station. I believe the ratio is 1:5 in favor of crap over quality.

On the laundromat scale: 2 out of 10