Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Money laundering.

This morning on my way to work, I dropped my laundry off at the laundromat near my subway stop. I've been doing this for months, because it's only a few bucks more and it saves me a lot of time and I figure, my precious time is worth a few dollars. At work, I get a voicemail from the lady who runs the place (please imagine in a thick Dominican accent for full authenticity):

"Hi Laura [the 'au' pronounced like 'ow'], I am from the cleaners. We have your credit card here, okay? Bye."

I am puzzled. Why would she have my card? I never take it out of my wallet unless I'm using it, and the laundromat only takes cash. And anyway, I don't pay until I pick up my clothes, so I wouldn't have even opened my purse when I was there. But I get out my wallet and sure enough, my debit card is gone. How could this have happened? And then I remember: yesterday, when I was home sick, I had put my debit card in my jeans pocket when I made a quick run to the store for some tissues, orange juice, and ice cream (what? it felt good on my sore throat). And those jeans are now at the laundromat. I also remember there is a $20 bill in the pocket as well. Crap. So I call back:

"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Laura, you just called about my debit card?"
"Yes, yes, Laura, we have your card. I keep it here for you."
"Thank you! There was also a $20 bill in the pocket, did you find that?"
"Hmmmm, no. No 20 dollars. I will check, but I am busy right now." *click*

So I figure, awesome. There's 20 bucks I'll never see again. That's what I get for being careless. A few minutes later, I'm calculating how many more containers of ice cream I could have bought with that money (the answer is eight - Breyer's is on sale this week) when I get another call:

"Hello? This is Laura."
"Hi Laura, I find your 20 dollars in the wash. I have it here."
"Oh great, thank you!"
"Yes, yes, I washed your 20 dollars for you!"

Heh. She seemed extremely amused, and then asked, "You just have too much money?" Exactly. I can't keep track of all the money overflowing from my pockets, my wallet's too small for my fifties, and my diamond shoes are too tight.

8 comments:

  1. You are the best at blogging.

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  2. Wow! I'm way impressed with your laundromat woman's HONESTY! That is most certainly a rarity.

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  3. Laura, don't take this the wrong way, but I think I have a crush on your blog.

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  4. I love that lady. You should take her a milkshake or something.

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  5. I think that society as a whole doensn't give itself enough credit. There are still a lot of honest people out there, and this is evidence of that.

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  6. my heart just grew two sizes for you. i love your story telling. oh how your wit pleases me soul.

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  7. i'm obsessed with your laundry lady.

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  8. It's nice to be proven wrong sometimes, right? I love the last line...I have always thought Chandler was the funniest!

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