Clueless Yuppies

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

Are there still yuppies? I might be betraying my age here....anyway, this well-dressed couple came into the laundromat last night with a mattress pad they needed to wash. They had never been in a laundromat before and the woman kept saying that.

Now, one thing I really hate is when people act all helpless in order to get me to do their laundry for them. Old farts whose wives have passed away are especially guilty of this (they never had to touch a washing machine). The other most guilty of this are RICH PEOPLE. I am NOT doing your laundry for you unless you want to pay the drop-off prices.

So this woman is fretting about the machines. Her husband is useless. He just stands there, with this amused look on his face at his "adorable" wife. She finally picks a machine and asks me to explain the complex concept of detergent.

Me: "You'll want to fill your cap up about 3/4, put about a tablespoon of that into the prewash [I point at compartment], then dump the rest in the main wash compartment [point to other one]."

Woman stares at me with that slack-jawed, deer-in-headlights look. I repeat my schpiel.

Woman: "I-I still don't...I don't understand..."

Finally after several tries, she FINALLY gets it.

Geez Louise! How do these people get rich if they can't handle the simplest of tasks?? Then they asked if I would dry it for them because they had to be somewhere. I agreed, if only to be spared having to give a course on laundry drying. They left me money and came back before closing to pick it up.

[mharbourgirl]

How do they get rich? He inherited it, and she married him. After having been raised by parents who groomed her to be a rich man's wife and nothing else. She never learned how to do basic life tasks because only 'lesser' people did menial tasks.

I'll give her this: she asked rather politely, she listened to you even if it took her a few tries to grasp the concept, and she didn't expect you to just do it all for her. I think there's a decent person under the expensive clothes, just also woefully ignorant of basic survival skills.

Ok, I obviously feel a weird kind of pity for her, for her ignorance and for having such a patronizing useless lump of a husband. Money doesn't always make everything better.

[Jester]

Are there still yuppies?

Sadly, yes, even if they're not necessarily called that anymore. But sadly, yes. There are. And way too many of them, if you ask me.

I am NOT doing your laundry for you unless you want to pay the drop-off prices.

Good for you! Way to stand your ground!

Then they asked if I would dry it for them because they had to be somewhere. I agreed, if only to be spared having to give a course on laundry drying.

Well, so much for standing your ground. In essence, you DID do their laundry for them, without them paying the drop-off prices. Tsk, tsk.

Money doesn't always make everything better.

No, it doesn't. But I'm willing to give it a try anyways. Purely for scientific research, of course.

[Seshat]

No, it doesn't. But I'm willing to give it a try anyways. Purely for scientific research, of course.

And I'll cheerfully help spend it.

[XCashier]

No, it doesn't. But I'm willing to give it a try anyways. Purely for scientific research, of course.

Can I join the research team? I've been part of the control group for far too long!

Back on topic, who does her laundry at home? She can't possibly have lived to adulthood without having used a washer and dryer (unless she's always had servants who've done it for her). Even my grade school home ec class showed us how to use a washer and dryer! A laundromat machine is not much different from a home machine (apart from the coin slot, of course); anyone who's used one can figure out the other, and if you still don't get it, RTFD.

Unless she really was feigning helplessness to get you to do the work for her, then all I have to say to her is

[dalesys]

Are there still yuppies?

This is what happened to them: Yuppies In The Sky

[BuffySummers]

What I don't get is why not just pay the drop-off prices? It can't be so much more expensive to drop-off one mattress pad, can it?

People are strange.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

Well, so much for standing your ground. In essence, you DID do their laundry for them, without them paying the drop-off prices. Tsk, tsk.

Nah, shoving things into a dryer isn't a big deal. They gave me $2, and that's all I used. Whether it was dry or not at the end of the time wasn't my problem and I certainly didn't fold/bag anything. That's more what I mean when I say people want me to do laundry for them. I had one brazen woman once who wanted me to "fluff" her comforter every 10 minutes while she enjoyed her day out, and then asked if I could "just" fold it afterwards. Um, NO.

What I don't get is why not just pay the drop-off prices? It can't be so much more expensive to drop-off one mattress pad, can it?

People are strange.

We have a $14 minimum charge, which some think is expensive. But hey, I don't set the prices!

[bainsidhe]

Your washers have a prewash? OK that'd confuse me a bit, since I've never had such a fancy washer. But anyway, aren't instructions usually posted right there on the washer?

[eltf177]

You wouldn't believe how many college students (and I use that term loosely) can't handle basic tasks like laundry, ironing, balancing a checkbook or managing money.

[Becks]

I had one brazen woman once who wanted me to "fluff" her comforter every 10 minutes

Heh.

She wanted you to be a fluffer.

*snickering about jobs on porn sets*

[Andara Bledin]

How do they get rich? He inherited it, and she married him.

... and then they manage to get people to do things for them by acting like idiots until the people who are helping them give in just to get rid of them without charging for services that really should be charged for.

She can't possibly have lived to adulthood without having used a washer and dryer (unless she's always had servants who've done it for her).

Not at all. My ex had never touched a washer or dryer before he hit his 18th birthday.

His mother was an old-fashioned martyr housewife who would work a full day at the office, then come home, cook, clean, and do everything to take care of her menfolk. Even when his dad wasn't working at all - she'd still do all the housework.

^-.-^

[Mikkel]

Not at all. My ex had never touched a washer or dryer before he hit his 18th birthday.

I always have to get help when I borrow a washer at some friends place. You see, I have never owned one myself, I have used laundromats all my life. Those private machines, without easily understood instructions printed on the wall, are difficult and never the same .

[Food Lady]

If they were rich, why did they have to go to the laundromat? Couldn't their housekeeper wash it? It was only a mattress pad; that would fit in a home washer.

[Laund-o-rama Mama]

If they were rich, why did they have to go to the laundromat? Couldn't their housekeeper wash it? It was only a mattress pad; that would fit in a home washer.

I have no idea! But they walked around like they were lost in the magical land of Oz!