DISPERSED throughout the dark underbelly of University life exists asubculture completely removed from every other facet of the college experience. No matter how long people put it aside, it is inescapable and will press the most dutiful student to the brink of insanity - laundry. The business of discarded clothes is a dirty one, and a variety of mishaps and annoyances constantly perturbs the average college student. From all dorms around Grounds, the already overburdened students trek to those rooms otherwise avoided at all costs, towing entire wardrobes at a time. Doing laundry can be a trying experience - it becomes even more so with the blatant lack of consideration of those who break some of the most basic rules understood between fellow students. The time has come to stand up against the shattered sanctity of the laundromat and reinstate the long-forgotten code of laundry room etiquette.
Without a doubt, the most unforgivable offense committed daily - nay, hourly - in the laundry room is that of the forgotten load. After hauling their assortment of clothes, towels and sheets, many hapless students arrive at the facilities only to find no free machines. A person could deal with entire rows of washers in use. The presence of multiple machines with seemingly neglected loads, however, proves truly unnerving. Most people readily follow the five minute rule - the abandoned load may sit unclaimed in a washer or dryer for the given amount of time, and once that time passes, it comes out. The more sympathetic student may add several minutes to the rule or kindly place the completed laundry in either a dryer or on a suitably clean surface. No respectable laundry patron eagerly would delve into the clothing of a peer, and fewer would be as willing to have a stranger shuffle through their Gap tees, Ralph Lauren polos and Old Navy boxers.
When the wrong buttons are pushed, though, a usually reserved student stealthily will toss another's load aside - undoubtedly making sure to hightail it out of there before the unsuspecting owner arrives. Confrontations, however, have been known to develop in such situations. To avoid seeing their belongings chucked faster than expired milk, no student should encroach on machines longer than the time for which they paid.
Controversy also arises from the practice of reserving a washer. Upon discovering all of the washing machines in use, a student in passing will throw a laundry basket or bag onto the appliance they select and leave. Those who come shortly after are left in the quandary of determining whether the lone loads are holding a machine or just haphazardly sitting around. Often the case is the former, but sometimes those who have called a washer fail to return after the original load is done, causing a backlash of confusion and frustration. A good rule to abide by would be to wait for a machine with one's load - a person can explain a lot better than a lonely basket.
Several other common occurrences in the laundry room undoubtedly annoy the typical student. In today's society obsessed with antibacterial, disinfecting everything, some people insist on a risky laundry cocktail - the infamous pint of bleach. One person's sterilized clothing is another one's cleansing fiasco. Anyone can attest to the horror of pulling out a newly laundered garment speckled with bleach spots. People really need to lighten up on the bleach. One or two machines in each laundry room should be designated for bleach-free washing.
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As most students at the University typically sprint in between classes with minds full of logarithms and international law, the few hours allotted to laundry each week bring much unneeded frustration. With the ability to empathize with their equally stressed peers, everyone must make that extra effort of consideration in the laundry room. Sometimes the smallest grievances cause the greatest aggravation. Preventing those annoyances that may seem trivial at first glance would do much good. So clean the filter after each load. Pick up the dryer sheets off the slick tile floor. Abstain from the temptation to pour in the bleach, and promptly remove clothes from the machines.
Granted, a movement to reestablish good manners in the laundry room doesn't rank up there with unionizing graduate students or fostering interracial dialogue. As an integral part of campus life, though, washing clothes is a necessary task that brings students together in the most uninhibited situations. By beginning the crusade one gesture at a time, goodwill only can spread further, rapidly unraveling the cause of much exasperation.
(Becky Krystal is a Cavalier Dailyassociate editor. She can be reached at bkrystal@cavalierdaily.com.)
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