Today, I was home and decided to wash all my beddings: sheets, blankets, everything, all at once. We have a washer and dryer at home, but with three large loads, it felt like too much. There was the big blanket, the whites, and my colored items, mostly scrubs from work. Since I have been working more than anything else lately, scrubs are practically all I wear. Then it hit me: why not take everything to the laundromat? I could wash, dry, and come home with fresh, clean bedding in one go. That thought alone was enticing to me and I did just that. I packed everything up and headed to a spanking brand-new laundromat on East Main Street. I have noticed this and other laundromats as being a booming business, especially on weekends and holidays.
When I walked in, I was greeted by what seemed to be an older Chinese couple. Not that old, perhaps in their early 70s. They were having lunch but paused to welcome me and asked if I wanted to drop off my laundry. I told them no, I was going to do it myself, and they were perfectly fine with that and directed me to use whatever machines were not being used that I wanted to. The laundromat wasn’t the biggest I have seen, but it was new and neat. I grabbed a cart, dropped in my bed linens, and headed to the machines.
I loaded up the wash in machine numbers: 10, 11, and 12 named “Speed Queen.” I used the biggest one for my heavy-duty blanket and the other two for the rest. The cost? $6.50 for the big blanket machine and $5.50 each for the whites and colored items, totaling $17.50 for three loads. As I stood there waiting, I started thinking about how laundromats could be such a lucrative business, even though they’re often overlooked or dismissed. Perhaps it is because of the notion that this business venture is an avenue for money laundry and hence the name “laundro-mat”.
Anyway, I imagined that the couple I met could very well be the owners, or at least part-owners. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were quite successful, possibly even millionaires. It got me thinking about how their level of education or English fluency probably couldn’t matter much. I wanted to talk to them, knowing me, but I quickly realized that language barrier would not allow us. I did say how are you in Chinese and the wife smiled at me, ha!
Meanwhile, there are thousands if not millions of us out here are highly educated but some drowning in student loan debt, approximately $1.7 trillion dollars nationally and working at jobs we thoroughly hate, and barely making ends meet. And yet we would never consider these ventures as a means of survival.
But there they were, enjoying lunch, looking relaxed, as if nothing in the world matters or could bother them. I was almost jealous about how relaxed they were as this made me realize how many of us wear our stress like our favorite outfit on a daily basis, and without any break. Seeing that contrast made me think: maybe some of us are responsible for overcomplicating things in and around us. Even the people I saw there doing their laundry looked happy and relaxed as well. And these are people society can easily judge as unsuccessful.
If you’re thinking about starting a business, don’t overlook something almost as simple like a laundromat. Forget about the stereotype that it's a business to launder dirty money, hence the name as stated earlier. It really is a genuine business and people will always need it since not everyone can afford a washer and dryer at home.
It’s worth considering. Let’s go out and do some business.
I remained your pal,
Ronnie Law
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