I think I broke the unspoken rule of the public laundry room.
By @tatekindof · Social
I live in an apartment building with a shared laundry room in the basement. I noticed someone's clothes were finished in the dryer, so I moved them to the folding table to start my own load.
The full story
I live in a fairly large apartment building, and the laundry room in the basement is always a bit of a strategic challenge. There are only four washers and four dryers for maybe 50 units, so you have to time things right. I went down on Sunday afternoon with my stuff, and all the dryers were running. I waited about ten minutes, but one of them had clearly been finished the whole time. The little digital display said 'END' and the clothes were just sitting in there. I could see other people waiting for dryers too, looking annoyed. So, I did what I thought was the logical thing. I very carefully took the person's clothes out of the dryer and placed them in a neat pile on the clean folding table right next to the machine. I didn't just dump them in a basket or on a chair. I made a point of folding a towel that was on top so it wouldn't seem like I was just being aggressive about it. Then I put my own clothes in the dryer and started it. A few minutes later, a guy came down and saw his clothes on the table. He didn't say anything to me directly, but he gave me a very intense, very unhappy look while he was gathering his stuff up. He was muttering to himself, and I definitely heard the word 'rude.' Now I feel really awkward. Was I in the wrong? I feel like there's a 5-10 minute grace period, but after that, you're holding up the line for everyone else. It's a shared utility. But his reaction made me feel like I committed a huge social faux pas, like I went through his personal belongings. I'm going to be anxious every time I have to do laundry now.
How people voted
- Side A — 33% (37 votes)
- Both — 41% (46 votes)
- Side B — 27% (30 votes)
Readers are split: “Both” leads with 41% — 113 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@ivyok2 — How long is the official grace period in these situations?
@owenyk — I feel like 'placed in a neat pile' might be a generous description of what actually happened.
@sageish — do it again next time see what happens
@cole — You were being considerate to everyone else who was waiting! That guy was the one being selfish.
@lanetbh — Soft.
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