BUMPER CARTS

I need to make a sign stating "this isn't an amusement park". Four kids decided to race carts in the laundromat and then play bumper carts. I yelled at them. I think I turned red too. They didn't listen and the mom wasn't any better.

I hate this shit.

I'm off to bed.

WHAT IS QUALITY?

Before I get into my rant, I just want to say that technology is against me and if germs could eat me alive, they would. Being sick sucks. Well now all I have is nose blowing and sounding all stuffed up. Actually, I sound like one of my customers who talks through her nose because of the crack she has been taking. No, I am not kidding you and yes, I really do sound like her BUT minus the crack. She is nice though. Technology wise, I had to take back my G1 phone because T-Mobile decided that I needed a defective phone as opposed to a good NEW phone. The pictures that I had on there of the ghetto underwear are gone. Don't worry... he will be back though...

Today a lady walks in asking for some tailoring to be done to her pants. First I asked her if she had the items with her (believe it or not, people show up without the items that need to be tailored). She said yes. Then I asked her if she knew how short she needed her pants to be tailored (this way I free the fitting room) and she said she didn't. Next I tell her the price (its best to tell the customers the price beforehand... I'll get into that a little later) and that is when she said "it's too expensive." This is where my title of my blog comes into play. We charge twelve dollars to hem pants and jeans. It may seem a bit pricey but really the customer is paying for a good quality job. Many people say so. Here is a story from the past:

Two years ago a customer walked in and demanded that he needed his jeans to be hemmed. The tailor gave him the price and he said "oh no honey, that price is too much. Up the block they can cut it for me 6 dollars." The tailor told him "so go up the block." The next day he returns and in a panic he says "Oh my gosh, they ruined my pants. One side they cut too short and the other side is still too long. Please help me, I can pay whatever you want me to." The tailor told him "That's what you get for six dollars." He coughed up eighteen dollars so the tailor could repair the damages and cut the proper length. Not once did the customer complain about it being too much. Mind you, two years ago the hemming price was ten bucks. He could have easily paid the extra four dollars for the quality as opposed to paying more the second time. Now he praises our tailor and doesn't complain.

The lady comes in fully prepared to get her items hemmed until she sees the twelve dollar charge per pant. With a Spanish accent she says "oh my! You people charge a lot." and I replied "well, not to brag but the tailor does a good quality job. She will make sure you get what you want and she guarantees it. If not, she fixes the problem without a charge." She didn't seem convinced. She told me "well, other places are cheaper." to which I replied "other places won't guarantee you good quality." She was still looking at the prices. I got peeved and I stated to her "if you would like, you can go somewhere else where it is cheaper. We have no problem." She wasn't happy by my remark and she said "well, I have a lot of pants. I will!" I told her to have a nice day. She will probably be back. Eighty percent of the time they come back asking for their items to be fixed properly and out of the eighty percent, twenty percent cry. That twenty percent also say "my jean/pants cost me 300 dollars! Help me!"

So what is quality? I'm not asking for a definition but the answer is not much for majority of the people. It's kind of hypocritical actually because half of these people buy pants that cost over one hundred dollars due to the quality yet they don't take care of the garment the way they are supposed to. It is mind boggling. If it were me, I would be paranoid! Paranoid that the tailor wouldn't do a good job or the dry cleaners would fuck up my silk blouse. I'm lucky that I work in the Laundromat because I have these good quality services available to me; however, some of these people refuse to understand that a price being so "high” is high for a reason. Labor and hard work is put into doing a good job and a good job deserves good compensation. If you pay six bucks for a tailoring job to be done, expect one pant leg to be long or shorter than the other one.

It annoys me to the point where I want to kick these people in the head. Argh! Before I worked at the Laundromat, I would take my items to be dry cleaned at a store that charged me two bucks for dry cleaning my trousers. I got them back and they were shrunk. A couple of years later, I found out why... they washed and dried them when the instruction tag specifically said "dry clean only". See, we pay attention to that. We also pay attention to what material the garment is so we could avoid damage. We use this logic for tailoring and dry cleaning... yet people refuse to acknowledge this logic... they just want the cheap buy...

-UGH-

-grumbles-

So last night before bed I accidentally took the wrong medication... I took medication that was filled with caffeine and stimulants... I have been awake for over 24 hours and all I had was an hour nap around noon.

Sorry, I feel way too tired and I am still sick to make a proper post.

I guess you can say that Laundry Girl is currently out of order.

=(

HAPPY FEBRUARY!

HAPPY NEW MONTH! I wish you all a good month!

Last couple of days I have been sick and I still am but I managed to get three updates on here. The three blogs are available for you to read bellow. The three posts are labeled as TMI, The Jerk, and Parenting.

In one of my posts I mention that I now have an android phone (Google phone) and I will abuse it at the Laundromat by taking pictures of people and people’s laundry (after it is washed). Woo hoo!

Also, I have come up with an idea. I was thinking what I could add to my Sunday Funnies and the light clicked! Posting laundry experiences and/or stories from my readers! I would love to read some of your experiences and stories! In addition, another thing that I am going to add is questions from my readers. The questions would vary within the laundry topic (soaps, stain removal, prevention, clothing storage, options, etc).

If you would like to participate, simply email me your story, experience, and/or question to Lillaundrygirl@gmail.com
I would LOVE it if I get some reader interaction!
What do you guys think?

Also, a new poll will be up! The poll is located at the bottom of this blog page.
Don't forget to read the three blogs posted!

XoXo,

Laundry Girl

THE JERK

I don't understand some people and I am not going to start trying to understand them. I am still sick to even try and argue. Today I worked. I was feeling a bit better and to be quite honest with you guys, I couldn’t stay in bed again… all day. My body hurts from just laying down all day Saturday and Sunday. When I talk, it sounds as if someone is holding my nose together. It could be worse and I am thankful it is not.

Today a customer came to pick up his dry cleaning. I would love to call him Mr. Upper East Side with a Stick Shoved Up his Ass… but it’s too long. Guess I can call him a Douche Bag but someone else has claimed that title. Meh, I will stick to Jerk. He dropped off his dry cleaning on Saturday and the owner of the Laundromat serviced him. According to the owner, Mr. Jerk gave one instruction which was to remove the pills from his jacket. The dry cleaner dude followed the instructions and did so. Mr. Jerk was informed that there would be an extra charge to pill removing. Mr. Jerk was not too happy about that. Oh, let me not forget this part… Mr. Jerk had a friend with him. This to me is significant because when someone has a compadre (friend) with him, the person’s behavior changes. I have observed this many times with different customers. For instance, when a customer is picking up something alone, they seem nice and have manners. When the same customer comes with a friend to pick up something, they become cocky/conceited and they forget their manners. It is quite pathetic if you ask me.

Mr. Jerk walks into my Laundromat with his friend. While chewing he starts to ramble on about insignificant information that he thinks I need… here is the dialogue:

Mr. Jerk (MJ): hi so I dropped off clothes but I don’t have my ticket.
Me: Is it dry cleaning or laundry?
MJ: its two tickets with a suit and jackets. A couple of slacks and sweaters…
Me: So dry cleaning?
MJ: Yeah. This other lady…
(I cut him off)
Me: Your name?
MJ: Mr. Jerk
Me: When did you drop it off?
Mj: (he starts talking to himself) Let see, what is today? Oh yeah, today is Monday and yesterday was Sunday. So, I dropped it off on Saturday.
Me: Okay...
(I find his stuff and I hand it over)
Me: I just need you to sign the book since you didn’t have your tickets.
MJ: What am I signing for, you want my autograph huh?
Me: No, not really.
(His friend laughs)
MJ: So how much?
Me: $63.00
MJ: I thought it was less than that!
Me: Well, you got charged extra for the lint removal.
MJ: So if I were to go somewhere else in this neighborhood to get the dry cleaning and pills removed done for me, it would be cheaper?
(That above is a typical threat that customers say so they can get a couple of bucks knocked off)
Me: Probably but who knows.
MJ: I just praised you guys and gave you good words to my friend and now you charge me that extra 6 bucks?
Me: Yup! It works out great, doesn’t it?
MJ: I don’t know anymore…
(His friend whispers to him “they did a fantastic job” and Mr. Jerk nudged him)
Me: Well anyways, here is your receipt and have a good night.
MJ: How do they dry clean this stuff?
Me: Chemicals, heat, and steam to clean and press clothing and other fabrics. In the past they used to use formaldehyde but now they don’t.

He tried to say something else but I cut him off with “well, have a nice one!” and they left. His attitude was pretty bad and cocky. I could have embarrassed him in front of his friend but my nose needed to be blown badly. See, it’s people like Mr. Jerk that makes me wish that they fall into a ditch already. He wasn’t even cute to be cocky, let alone smart...

TMI

TMI= Too much information

I consider myself to be an open person. Cynical at times too but that isn’t important. A lady walked up to me after putting her laundry in the wash and she just started talking to me. She acted as if I were her best friend. I guess she didn’t catch on to my facial expression, which was “what the fuck?” First she was complaining about her husband and how he doesn’t help out at home or with the laundry. Now, keep in mind this happened on Friday and I was sick. I couldn’t swallow, my glands were swollen, and later on in the night, I was running a fever.
As I was saying, she was complaining about her husband and I told her “ha! You should make him sleep on the couch.” See, I tossed that into the conversation thinking maybe she would leave me alone. Nope. I was wrong. She replied “I would but the thing is that he is good in bed.” I wanted to ignore that. Sadly, she didn’t stop there. She continued to say “the best thing is, we don’t have to use a condom because my tubes are tied.” I cocked my head to the right and I just looked at her. I wondered if I was imagining all this due to all the medication I took at once (Tylenol, Advil, alieve, Dayquil, and some other stuff. Hey, I’m still alive), but I wasn’t imagining it. It was truly happening. All I said was “oh… that’s cool…” She agreed with me. Then she asked me how I have sex. I told her “oh, well you see… it’s kind of hard to have sex with a cartoon. Communication between me and Pikachu just isn’t working out.” Her head went back and he eyes opened and she said “what? Is that code for something?” I shook my head sideways.

To think that my reply would make her leave was only a dream. She sat there and continued to talk. She told me about her daughter from her first marriage and how she obtained an STD. Lovely lady. Real classy… I applaud to you and your stupidity. Finally my time to leave came. I excused her and told her to have a nice one. She said “it was nice talking to you, we should do this again.” I looked at her and told her “yes, next time, please keep the TMI to yourself.” Guess she didn’t know what that meant.

If you are wondering what she looks like, think obese and white trailer trash. She looked like a stuffed sausage in a brown sweat suit. The back read “Preious”… I think the “c” was hidden between her… you know what, never mind… I’ll spare you all the mental image.

PARENTING

Parenting should require licensing. As a matter of fact, a background check too while they are getting their parenting license. On Thursday, a mother decided to put her child in the dryer as punishment. The kid was freaking out. I wouldn't be surprised if he grows up with a complex or a fear of clean clothes. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the child grows up and just Febreezes himself due to the fear of doing laundry. Hey, I have customer who does that. As much as I enjoy his citrus smell, I would prefer if he took a shower. I will talk about that customer after this child's nightmare... and mine.

Its okay to put a child in the dryer if the electricity is off and the heat isn't going. I have been in the dryer before. I felt like I was at Six Flags. My boss told me that the ride in the dryer was my vacation. I laughed. Sadly, she wasn't laughing.

Anyways, the kid was crying and the mother was holding the door. I was minding my own business and playing with my new phone (I got the Google phone, G1) until a customer came up to me with a shaky broken English accent telling me "I think you might want to come see this."  I didn't want to see anything. As a matter of fact, I wanted to continue playing with my phone; however, to avoid paperwork and any liability, I did head to the drying area. I wasn't happy. The child was banging on the door, crying, and screaming. I told the mother to remove the child from the dryer because it wasn't safe. She told me "this is my child. Not yours." I felt like saying *you fuckin Mexican, you don't know better!* but I didn't. Instead I remained calm and civilized. I let the parent know that if she doesn't remove the child from the dryer, I would have to call the police. She gave me a look as if I were bluffing. I wasn't bluffing.

Shit, I just got a new on that day (Thursday) and I did NOT mind using it to call the cops. As a matter of fact, my phone has an emergency option thing, so I wouldn't even have to dial. AND WHAT BITCH, BRING IT!
The lady had another child too with her. The kid appeared to be older than his brother, who was in the dryer. He must have been around 11 years old. I asked him to translate for me but he was too busy playing under the folding table. I turned to another customer for help and she did help... in her Spanglish translation. Oh, I forgot to mention... the child was removed from the dryer. Now I asked this customer to translate the following:
"Tell her that what she is doing, is abuse and she is putting her child in a dangerous position."
What did the psycho bitch reply? This: "tell her it's not her son and that I will do to my children what I want. She has no business."

I shook my head and just walked away. She put the kid in her shopping cart with a blanket over it... I guess so the kid won't escape? It's pretty horrifying and the only reason I didn't call the cops on her was because I wanted her to know first that what she is doing, is bad and not healthy.

When she was ready to leave the premises, she stopped at the counter and with her head bowed down she said “sorry”. I looked at the kid and asked how he was doing and I didn’t get a reply. He was quiet. I didn’t reply to the apology. Instead I said “have a good night”. I didn’t know what to say… hell; I think this is the first time a customer ever apologized to me for their actions!

I mentioned that I bought an android phone… which means… LAUNDRY PICTURES! Woooo hooooo! I have pictures from Friday, when I was folding someone’s clothes but since I wasn’t feeling too well, I couldn’t upload anything or update my blog due to having the plague (being sick).

Moving on, the Febreeze dude… he comes into my Laundromat once a month with two big bags of laundry. He is around my height but a bit taller. I would say he is approximately 5’7” weighing in at 230 pounds. I could never tell if his hair is jet black or if the grease on it is making it black… pretty frightening. He looks dirty but he smells like April Fresh and sometimes Orange Citrus. How do I know this? I have a bottle of febreeze in my car, room, and bathroom. Oh yeah, at the Laundromat too. If you sniff him really well, you will sniff past the febreeze and reveal his true scent of “dirty fool.” One day, I think he forgot to febreeze himself and my eyes started to tear up and I gagged. I couldn’t handle the stench so I pulled out my own bottle of febreeze. It would have been funny if he came over and asked to use some. Hell, I would have offered….