A Laundry Story

Something happened today that made me think about something my mother told me once upon a time: live and learn. If you're one of those people who can't stand listening to my unnecessarily long and detailed stories (and I know there are plenty of you out there), I suggest you stop reading this post right now. Fast forward to the end where you can see what I did yesterday, which would probably better float your boat. For everyone else, go grab some pop and popcorn, sit back, relax, and enjoy this story.

Okay, so it's more of a rant. But it's my blog. I can do whatever I want. And right about now I want to rant.
For those of you sticking around to read, I will have no comments about how "typical-Betsy" this story is. (After all, I wrote it. What would you expect?) Don't say I didn't warn you.

Background Information

First, it is necessary to know a few things. I think I've mentioned what it's like to do laundry in Lure before, but if you never read about it or just need a refresher, I'll tell you again. The laundromat in Lure takes about ten minutes to walk to from where I live. Maybe less, but no more. Ten minutes doesn't seem like a whole lot, but when you're carrying a large bag of laundry, it is.

The place has three washing machines. One is out of order and has been ever since I arrived. Of the other two, one costs 8 euros and holds twice as much laundry as the smaller one, which costs 4 euros. I have always only used the 4-euro machine. Using the larger one would mean, while only having to do laundry twice as often, carrying twice as many clothes to the laundromat. Every time I do laundry, I hope and pray that no one will be using that working 4-euro machine. Rarely do I have to wait for it, but when I do, it's annoying.

You should also know that I'm really poor. I actually count the number of meals I could potentially get out of the food I have on a daily basis, trying to budget my money as specifically and carefully as possible. I try not to have cash lying around because if I do, I'm more likely to spend it, although I prefer using cash to a card. In any case, I somehow ended up with 4 measly euros in my wallet a week or two ago. Back before Christmas, I had a jar full of coins that I used only for laundry. The goal was to never empty the jar, that way I'd always be sure to have laundry money and wouldn't have to worry about it. Well, Christmas vacation was the end of that. I emptied the jar and used the coins for bus, metro, etc. tickets because it's just a lot easier than using a card. So recently when I made my 4-euro discovery, I made sure to put them all in my empty laundry jar to save until my next laundry day, which I knew would only come once before getting paid again. I made a special point not to touch those four euros. They were sacred. With such little money in the first place, I needed to keep those four euros. I'd be tempted to use them to buy bread or juice or a magazine or something else delicious or fun, but I knew I couldn't. And by the way, it wasn't two 2-euro coins. It was a random combination of small coins which miraculously added up to four. I made absolute sure I'd have enough to do laundry on the day I was on my last clean pair of underwear.

Especially important to note right here is this: I don't always enjoy counting every last euro and making sure I stay within the limits of my bank account. But especially right now, I really have to not spend money because I literally have no access to my money in the bank. Because I'm still waiting on my new bank card, I can't go to an ATM and withdraw money. Yeah, I could go inside and do it on paper. But is it really worth it when I don't NEED it? Not if you ask me. So really, those four euros are all I had. (Plus, on a weekend the bank isn't open anyway.)

I tend to put off laundry as long as possible. In the long run, I'm probably saving money by doing that. Maybe I'm doing laundry four or five times fewer that way. Who knows? But aside from that, I HATE doing laundry! But I had put it off long enough, and today it was time to use my four euros. This was the day I'd been saving for. :)

Setting the Scene

Last night before I went to bed, I packed my bag full of all my dirty clothes. Loathing the thought of dragging it to the laundromat in the morning, I re-counted my four euros to make sure they were all there, and I went to bed. This morning when I awoke, everything was perfect. I slept in until about 11:30. The sun was shining so bright that I couldn't help but be happy. I leisurly ate my breakfast of cereal, yogurt, and coffee, and took my time showering and getting ready to leave, listening to Christophe Maé to keep the mood happy. I wasn't excited about doing laundry, but I was mentally prepared. The day was as perfect as a Sunday could be so far, so I had nothing to be upset about.

Before leaving, I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm so proud of myself that I'm not going to use the dryer this time. I'm saving money. Maybe not a lot, but I'm still saving money. Why did I ever use the dryer before, anyway? Who needs dryers?! I'll dry chez moi for free! I've done it before. I can do it again. Yay for saving money!" I also thought about how over-loaded my bag was and how awful it would be to carry that extra-heavy bag to the laundromat. Once. So I took some things out that could wait until next time. I wouldn't want to make the trip there any more miserable than it needed to be.

The whole way to the laundromat, I hoped and hoped there wouldn't be anyone using my four-euro machine. When I arrived, I was very happy to see it was empty. Great!

I started filling the machine with my clothes. While doing so, I was thinking to myself the whole time, "Wonderful! This is great! I won't have to worry about having a vacant machine again for a couple weeks! My laundry will be done in no time! What a perfect Sunday." Everything fit just perfectly in the machine. I was glad I'd made the choice to remove some things from the bag before leaving my appartment; it was hard enough to carry as it was. I put my soap into the machine with a smile on my face and happily walked over the the pay thing.

The Incident

To start a washing machine, there are two steps. First, you select a machine by pressing the button next to the number of the machine you wish to use. Then, this little screen tells you how much money to put in. Of course, it is always four euros for me. Every time, I always verify the number of my machine, even though it's the same every time. Number 11. I just want to double check. So I pressed the button, and the screen told me to insert 3.50. I was so delighted! You see, if the person before you puts in too much money, it just gets added to the next person's load! I thought about turning around and giving the extra 50 cents to the woman who was in there using the dryer, as I'm sure it was from her. But instead I decided to keep my mouth shut and pocket the extra 50 cents I didn't have to pay. All that time saving my four euros, and it was like I was getting a discount! Using a coupon, if you will. Being rewarded for being poor. Free money! I thought I might use it to do one round of drying, just to give everything a head start. Or maybe I would save it for laundry next time! It would go directly back into the laundry jar when I got home.

As I inserted my coins into the money machine, here's what I was thinking. "One. Two. Two fifty. Th... No, don't use the other 50 cent piece because then you won't be able to make exact change. Two seventy. Two ninety. Three ten. Three thirty. Three fifty. And look! My 50 cent piece is still in my wallet!" I was so excited. "Machine marche," the little screen told me. "Machine starting." I thought it was too good to be true.

And it was.

I looked around the corner to make sure the machine was truly starting. No reason to believe it wouldn't be. But to my disbelief, it wasn't. What was happenning? I jiggled the handle. Pressed the cycle button once again. Nothing. I just put my last four euros into the wall, and my machine is not working. I need this machine to work. I saved those four euros for a long time. I put off laundry a lot longer than normal this time. And I have no more clean underwear for tomorrow. I need my clothes washed. Now.

But it was too late. I wasn't getting my money back. I realized I'd accidentally pressed "12" for the machine number instead of "11." No clue why. I even looked at the machines next to mine when verifying the machine number. "That one's 10, that one's 12. So mine is number 11." Perhaps the 12 was stuck in my head because it was the last machine I'd looked at. I don't know what happend, but I was devastated and ferious with myself. I had no more money. I thought about calling Mario to have him bring me some. But I didn't bring my phone with me, and that would be annoying on his end if I called for money. I didn't want to lose my soap and my washing machine after already having lost my four euros. But I had no choice. I unloaded the washing machine, piled my clothes back into my bags, and huffed and puffed all the way back to Lycée Georges Colomb. By this time, I was ready for a shower again. Seriously.

I walked immediately to Mario's room and asked if he had four euros I could borrow. I am NOT happy about this. I don't like borrowing money from people. But frankly, I had no choice. Even if I had waited until the next day or a few days to do laundry... I still couldn't obtain my own four euros without either borrowing from someone or having my new bank card in hand, which will probably take another week??? Thankfully, Mario had four euros in coins. I really gave him no option. THANK YOU MARIO FOR THE FOUR EUROS!!!! Trust me, you will see them again very soon. As soon as I get my card. :)

I basically ran back to the laundromat. K so not really, but I walked very quickly, which is quite a feat with so much laundry in hand and in that kind of heat. Mostly, I didn't want to wait for someone else to finish using the machine. But I also didn't want to waste my soap that was already in it. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to find the machine empty. Again. Twice in one day. :)

So from that point on, everything went fine. I used Mario's four euros and dwelled over the 3.50 that I lost. Now, I know 3.50 might not seem like a lot to you. And in the grand scheme of life, it isn't. But do you know what I could have done with that 3.50? I could have bought five liters of cranberry juice. I could have seen (almost) one movie. I could have done (almost) another whole load of laundry, or seven cycles of drying (that's two and a third loads worth)! I could have gone to Belfort for the day (although I couldn't have come back on the 3.50). I could have mailed two (maybe more?) letters home to my mom! I know 3.50 is only 3.50, but hey, 3.50 is 3.50! I'm trying to forgive myself.

But like my mom says, live and learn.

Then I went for a looooong walk in the beautiful sun, trying to make up for my disappointing afternoon. That was nice. Sunday strolls in France are lovely. So many people were out walking with their kids and their dogs. It made me really happy to see people and to be seen.

Other Stuff

Yesterday Mario and I went to an American WWII cemetery near Épinal, the capital of the Vosges department in Lorraine. It was neat to see everything in English. Even the signs on the highway said, "American Cemetery" in English. It was all American. (There was French on some things, though.) It made me so incredibly happy to see an American flag waving so high. I remember last time I returned home from France, the sight of an American flag, anywhere, brought tears to my eyes. It made me so happy to be back home. Being here, I kind of forget about how good it feels to be American. I see French flags all the time, but I don't think much of them. Seeing an American flag makes me feel so much at home. And I'll be completely honest. I kind of felt at home in that cemetery, as weird as that sounds. But anyway, all the people buried there died in France while serving in World War II. What's interesting is that they died in this area of France. There was a map on the wall showing where these people were. I saw names of cities I live near, like Belfort, Besançon, Mulhouse, and Dijon. I'm glad we went.

After that, we went to the actual city of Épinal. And I'll tell ya, it was nothing special. I'm glad we went, though, because I'd alwasy wonder what it's like if we hadn't. It's not quite an hour's drive from Lure, so I figured I should see the "big" cities in the area.

I'm a little curious as to who reads my blog. You may have noticed I put a view tracker on the page. The thing is, every time anyone just clicks on the page (including me, to update it), it goes up. Now, I'm not going to force you, but if you feel so inclined, leave a comment on this post. You can identify yourself if you wish, or don't. I don't really care. I guess I am more interested in knowing how many people read this versus who. But whatever. Just curious...