Laundromat

Our king-size down comforter needed a cleaning, so this morning I took it over to Laundryland... not the closest laundromat to our house, but much better than any of the others I've either seen or used already.

The one laundromat we used a few months ago the last time we washed the comforter was very noisy and uncomfortable, and the change machine short-changed us by 50 cents! When I complained to the staff, all they did was show me that the change machine worked fine for them. Anyway they can take their junk customer service and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Laundryland is much nicer. First of all, they have ample parking right out front. And they at least make an attempt to make going to the laundromat a pleasant experience. Nothing frilly like a cafe or anything like that. But on the walls they have painted murals - on one side is the African bush with lions, zebra, elephants, giraffe, impala and cheetahs. On the other wall is an underwater scape with a SCUBA diver swimming amongst bright-colored tropical fish, whales, dolphins, shark, turtles, jelly fish and a lively coral reef. Artificial potted plants hang from the ceiling alongside cardboard decorations leftover from Christmas. There is also a multitude of large televisions suspended from the ceiling to entertain patrons.

Sitting here almost captive (I suppose I could go do something somewhere else, but it's not the best neighborhood to go wandering around in, and I don't feel like driving anywhere), reminds me of the first time I ever was called up for jury duty, when I was held captive in a room for several hours with a television on that I really didn't feel like watching. The shows that are on at ten or eleven o'clock in the morning are so terrible. Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, Judge so-and-so... they always show just about what is the worst and certainly most idiotic side of human beings. I don't say worst, because I suppose the talk show guests could be killing or maiming each other instead of just screaming at and verbally abusing each other.

Yet, I have a hard time not looking. It's like a car accident on the highway... you almost have to look. These kind of shows are so gawd-awful yet they persist. I mean, that time I had jury duty and had to watch (or at a minimum hear) these shows was probably ten to twelve years ago, yet the same shows are still on!

It must be because the networks either have no other content they can use fill up the late morning hours with, and the people who watch these shows do so because seeing such idiots on TV makes them feel better for a while. I mean, who couldn't feel like they have some redeeming qualities when comparing him or herself to a grandmother who pimps our her granddaughter and then goes on Jerry Springer?