Oh yeah! Happy First Sunday of the Month people! Wish you all a happy March!
Before I get to links and reader stories, I have a story of my own! (When don't I?... Oh yeah, Wednesdays and Saturdays...)
Yesterday I was given a silly suggestion from a customer. It was so silly to the point where I was willing to go buy it just to shove his head in it. The suggestion? Before I get to this, I will call this guy Radiation Lover. The suggestion was that the owners should put a microwave in the laundromat so people can bring food from home to eat while doing laundry. You know what... now that I think about it, Radiation Lover was onto something. I -should- go purchase a microwave along with a sink and an oven just for the laundromat. It will be ideal and fantastic. Imagine the possibilities of infestation! I would LOVE it! -end sarcasm- I told Mr. Radiation a simple "no". He stood in front of me complaining that he came to do laundry and didn't have a bite to eat. Not my fault dude. I didn't tell him not to eat and I gave him that argument. He told me "well, you are here." The crazy person wasn't making any sense so I was just nodding and smiling while cleaning the front area from the mess that my co-worker and manager left.
Why would I want to put a microwave in the laundromat??? WHY!?!?!? I can just see some idiot putting metal in the microwave and starting a fire. I can even see little kids putting their heads in there to see what would happen. Hell, I can even see someone putting their fucking underwear in there just so it can dry. I can think of other things that would happen too... Yeah, no microwave. This is why I feel like putting his head in a microwave. His brain cells are dead to begin with. Hell, we used to have a coffee pot and we removed that because the thing smelled like urine. This was many many many years ago.
Now that I have entertained you, my readers with stupidity of a customer, I move on to Mike's story. Mike is form Kansas and he owns/works at a laundromat as well and he sends me his stories, which I can relate to. Mike sent the following:
"From the moment I saw the young lady enter the door, by the look in her eyes and the way she was holding a small trash bag, I knew that it wasn't going to be good. When something is filthy, smelly dirty, they always carry it to the cleaners in a trash bag. So, she smiled at me and said happily, "I just turned 21 and I puked all over my friends coat." She laid the bag on the counter and gently pushed it toward me. "Okay," I said, "We'll have it ready for you in a couple of days." And then I said the thing that the customers dread the most when they bring in that kind of stuff. I looked straight into her [until then] twinkling eyes and said carefully "You'd better check the pockets." And then to obligate her the check the pockets, I said "There could be an ink pen, lipstick or something in it that would ruin the coat." Needless to say, it didn't take long for her expression to change.
What goes through peoples minds, I'll never know. Last week another lady brought in her daughter's coat, in the usual trash bag, covered with vomit. And, so it goes, "My daughter vomited on her coat six weeks ago and I found it in her closet." After I said "We'll take care of it," I added, "You'd better check the pockets." A stunned look came over her face and she turned around and walked out saying, "I'm sure my daughter checked them.""
--------------------------------------------
Mike, I have dealt with so many liquids... or solids on clothes to be dry cleaned... the horror and the smell... Once I had a customer (I think he moved now) that came in with his "club" shirt drenched in puke. He told me "I know it smells bad but it happens when you get shit faced." I didn't accept the garment. I told him to wash it first then to give it to me. He argued that the shirt was "dry clean only" and I told him to hand wash it. Long story short, he didn't want to deal with his own puke and preferred that I take care of it. In the end, he washed it and then gave it to me to dry clean. I remember him saying "oh my god, the water in the washer is dark yellow." That is how bad the shirt was coated in puke. -shudders- He wasn't the only one. We get people like that all the time and depending on how bad the case is, we either tell them to wash it first or we don't accept the shirt to service. Well, not shirts alone... other garments as well.
-------------------------------------------
Mike also asked me if we have "dry only" customers in NY. Mike, we do and they do have the worst attitude than your "normal" customer. When I greet them, they ignore me and they have their head bowed down while they go to the dryer section. They don't bother me and I never yell at them (unless they are drying sneakers or rugs). Majority of the laundromats in NY don't allow that though. My friend goes to a laundromat where people have to wash and dry, drying only isn't allowed. The only reason we allow them is because it's a source of bringing in money. If we yell at them for drying only then they may not come back and we lose out on the five bucks. If it was only one customer, five bucks doesn't seem much but the fact that there is more than one customer, the money adds up.
The customers that we do try to limit are those who think we are a coin counting center... You know, the ones that bring in five dollars in pennies, nickels, and dimes... THOSE people are annoying. The people that bring in massive amounts of coins, we only count up to three dollars. No more than that and we give them this statement "we are not a bank." Of course they get upset at that but hey, truth is WE AREN'T A BANK!
LINK TIME!
My friend was featured in a Chain Mail Guild thingy, check it out:
www.artfirechainmailleguild.blogspot.com/
I think this cartoon dude might be my new hero... maybe not... but watching this last night while being on a drowsy medication made me chuckle...
Posts
Most laundromats ive been to or have seen say "No Drying Only".
ReplyDelete