Monday evening at the laundromat, corner of Lorimer St. and Graham Ave. in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.
“Hello, hon, how can I help you?” the lady on duty asked me as she folded t-shirts piled atop a blue plastic table. “Cold wash is $1. Warm wash, $2.50.” My fleece, which has a tag recommending that the garment be washed in cold water, decided.
I changed a $5 bill, loaded my laundry into a machine and sat down to finish a story in latest issue of The New Yorker about the movie “Noah,” by Darren Aronofsky, who, as it happens, grew up about 15 miles from the laundromat. I stared through the portal of the washing machine and imagined life aboard the arc as water inundated my clothes.
House Rules:
- When cycle is finished, laundry left unattended in washers or dryers may be removed by the next waiting customers.
- Check machines before loading items and please clean the machines after each use.
- Kindly wipe clean any bleach or soap from tops of machines when finished.
- We assume no responsibility for damaged, lost or stolen articles.
- Absolutely no tinting or dyeing in any machines.
- No sneakers, plastic or rubber items permitted in machines.
- Do not remove laundry carts from store.
- No pets or bicycles permitted in store.
- No alcoholic beverages allowed.
- No smoking.
A woman to my left in a hoodie typed on a MacBook Pro. A woman in black to her left knitted. “The Bachelor” played on one of two 55-inch televisions on the wall. Something about a single guy who brings a series of women home to meet his family. From the other screen poured a telenovela.