A Special Note About Laundry...

So today I was able to wake up and get a little bit of laundry done. It afforded me a little bit of time to muse over my plans for the day, my thoughts on school, and especially, my feelings about laundry. Now, who doesn't like the feeling of fresh laundry as soon as you take it out of the dryer? It's fantastic! Warm and fluffy, clean, with just a hint of the smell of your laundry detergent or dryer sheet; it is one of life's simple pleasures. Even before you get to that, it is always sort of relaxing and enjoyable to sort your laundry before cleaning it-- whites here, brights in another pile, towels and other things next to them. I think I often enjoy being able to compartmentalize things, and laundry affords me a simple opportunity to enjoy this small pleasure. Just wonderful. Aside from the feeling of satisfaction you get as you see the pile in your laundry basket get smaller and smaller, instead of bigger and more stinky. And yet, even that afords you a possibly nice moment of reflection! You take your clothes out to sort before laundering, and you find the jeans from you last bonfire, smelling still a bit of smoke. It reminds you of the good times you had at that bonfire, and also of the fact that you should probably do another one this very weekend! The gym clothes remind you that you have actually been fulfilling your New Year's goal to be more consistent in you exercise, which is why you have to wash the clothes now, allowing you to keep at it and go running again in them as soon as they are clean! So in a way, laundry serves as a great motivating force to help us in fulfilling our goals. I could go on and on about why I love laundry, but the truth is, just the simple piece of praise that it is better than having to do the dishes, is enough.

Dishes are another story. I know there is a purpose to it, and that it does feel good to have them all done, but truly, who thinks that doing the dishes is better than doing laundry? Perhaps a china maker, or a seemstress (who sees clothes all day already). Beyond that, any reasonable person would agree with me that doing laundry is far greater and a much lesser evil (if an evil at all) than having to do the dishes. Dishes are covered in other people's germs. They have often been sitting in the sink long enough for the water that has collected in the cups or bowls to get cold, and thus it just feels extra gross and unclean. Washing dishes in warm water is bad enough (but occasionally tolerable), but having to wash dishes that have any amount of cold or luke warm water in them is discusting!!! The hardened food that breaks your nails as you work to get it off, the soggy left over cereal that someone couldn't finish, the SMELL of dirty dishes and dishrags (gaaag), and the drain that has little tidbits of everyone's dishes (as in food) left inside of it that you have to clean out (because let's be honest, even when you wash off YOUR dishes, your roommates often tend to forget, or when they do, it's always into the side WITHOUT the garbage disposal, though why that is I still am at a loss). All in all, doing the dishes is just a far worse chore than having to, or GETTING to do the laundry. That's all there is to it.

Any thoughts?

(This post has originated in all honesty in an effort to goad Keith on to writing a post that he has been talking about writing for a long time on the topic of "Why doing the dishes is better than doing laundry," a point we tend to disagree on. It is really just meant to be funny, and to tease Keith, beating him, shall we say, to the punch (the punch stain on the shirt, or the punch left in the cup in the sink-- depending on where you find yourself in this debate.) I hope this didn't bore all you other readers too much. But I had to beat Keith to the punch at his own game. Love ya' honey! ;)

love you all. I miss you. Tawna