Click to enlarge.
If dragging one's dirty laundry and a small fortune in coins down to the laundromat isn't a sign of renewed prosperity for all, then I don't know what is!
These are high-tech automation jobs we're talking about too! Dirty laundry goes in! Coins go in! Clean laundry comes out! Miraculous!
Preliminary estimates for August suggest 3,800 jobs added since June of 2009! That's a 12% increase! Why was I ever bearish?
It's a brand new day
And the sun is high
All the birds are singing
That you're gonna die
And the sun is high
All the birds are singing
That you're gonna die
The birds are probably as sarcastic as I am! Don't worry about it!
Source Data:
BLS: Current Employment Statistics
On a different American blog I commented on the convenience of getting a "service wash" at a launderette/laundromat. It turned out that this is one of the uncommon cases where customer service in the UK outshines that in the US.
ReplyDeleteOn your way to work in the morning you drop off your washing; on the way back you pick it up, laundered, dried and neatly folded. The extra amount you pay above the cost of doing it yourself is a mere trifle.
So until we were in our forties we didn't own a washing machine or tumble dryer: it was the service wash for us every time.
Mind you, until we were in our forties we didn't own a colour TV. We are not avid consumerists.
ReplyDeletedearieme,
ReplyDeleteThe first apartment complex I lived at on my own had coin-operated laundry machines.
In the winter, I'd have to haul my laundry outside to another building in the cold.
As it was washing, I'd always have a small concern that it would not be there when I returned.
As it was drying, I'd have that same concern.
One trip to put it in the washer. One trip to move it to the dryer. One trip to pick it up. Two chances to worry.
And why might I worry? My car was broken into at that apartment complex. They took the stuff in my trunk and left it for me at a nearby fence. It seems that once they realized what they had, it was too much trouble to carry it any further. In hindsight, I should not have locked my car that night. I would not have needed to fix the broken window!
So, I don't exactly have "prosperous" memories of coin-operated laundry. The next apartment had a washer and dryer in the unit. No desire to ever turn back!