Classic Series - The Laundry Incident

Continuing with the theme of bringing some classics from my old blog back to life online, here is one that is near and dear to my heart:

The Laundry Incident

It was December of 2005 and I had decided to spend X-mas with my grandparents who live in Puerto Rico. It was about that time when I had to leave the country for 72hrs to re-enter it again to update my “tourist status” anyway (we have to do that every 90days or so here - you guessed it, more red tape) so I figured why not go to P.R. which is not as far as Canada to be with some family for the holidays. I stayed there for 3 days, short trip, I know,…and flew back into Panama boxing day.

Two days later I decided to hop on a bus with a small group of friends for a long (yet really quick) drive to an area of Panama called Bocas Del Torro. For anyone who has not yet been, PLEASE make the effort to go. You will not regret it. It is by far the most beautiful area of this country that I have been to. I still have not been to San Blas though, so for now I can say that. Anyway, spending New Years in Bocas was one of the best times I have had in a long time. I’m writing this now 8 months later and I still sit back and grin when I think of that trip….oh my…more stories to blog about soon…

So we get back from Bocas and I realize that between working a lot and then taking two trips back to back like that, I was long overdo for some laundry. In fact, I had just about nothing clean except for 1 pair of dress pants and a blouse. So what do I do? I decide what the hell, I take all my clothes and stuff them into the giant green army dufflebag (it was my fathers from when he was in the army) and take them all over to this little laundrymat that I always went to. This place was run by a small chinese family…really nice people. They knew me by name and we chatted a bit whenever I brought my clothes in. I used to be able to get like 3 loads of laundry washed, dried, folded and sorted and ready for pick up the next day for like $4….not bad in my books. So I took ALL of my clothes and brought them over. The lady smiled, we chitchatted and she took my clothes and gave me my receipt. I headed home feeling good that I got that out of the way.

So the next day I went by to pick up my clothes immediately after work and the laundry mat was closed. Oddly enough it didn’t just look closed…it looked shut down. All the windows looked like they were painted black….I thought it was weird but I was sure there was an explanation. After 2 more days passed and I was without clothes and the laundrymat was still closed and dark, I started to panic…..I wasn’t sure what to do if they closed down because at the time I didn’t know that this laundrymat was a franchise and had other branches in random parts of the city. Had I known that then, I would have been able to go to another branch and ask them where the hell my clothes are..

More days passed and I was sitting outside of a friend’s place one night when my roommate called my cellphone. She had just walked by the laundrymat place and decided to call me when she realized what happened. I will never forget the words that rang through my ears that night….”jen, the laundrymat isn’t just closed….its closed… The black windows isn’t paint or covering….it’s smoke and ash! THE LAUNDRY PLACE BURNT DOWN!!” Great…just freakin great.

Did I mention that I packed ALL of my clothes in that dufflebag to get washed? ALL??? ggrrrrr….. Do you know how hard it is for a woman like myself to find clothes that i actually like? Let me share something about myself here….I HATE to shop for myself. I HATE to buy new clothes. When I DO find something good, it’s gold and I treasure it. I’m convinced that somebody up there was getting back at me for something bad I did in a past life….I was convinced. All my clothes….gone. Did I ever recover? Not really….Did I cry? Maybe….am I still pissed when I think about it? YES. But life goes on I suppose….*sigh*

The End