Laundry at UVM

One of the most pleasant surprises that came with attending our fair University was the realization week before we moved in that laundry was free here. My older brother insisted that I must collect quarters all summer in order for a successful first semester laundry-wise at college. that was a nice little bonus at the coinstar the day before I left.

However, actually doing your laundry is far from a happy, loving, egalitarian environment. The laundry room in Millis is nothing short of a battlefield, where a constant war is being waged by hundreds of students who often do not know each other out side of the laundry context. There are only 6 washing machines accompanied by 12 dryers. A load of laundry will take about 38 minutes in the washer and 60 minutes in the dryer. If you so dare as go even a minute or two past the time when our laundry has finished, youd best watch out. People are ruthless, they will remove your laundry and replace it with theirs, usually giving no thought to the sanitary integrity of your clothes. Most will respectfully place them on top of the machines or the bench next to the dryer. But every once in a while you will return the laundry room to see half of your clothes strewn on the floor. This is a devastating sight especially considering that grossness factor of the floor there. It is pretty bad.

I would never mind doing laundry at home but here it is a dreaded weekly routine that just adds an unneccessary amount fo stress to my free time. The key is to find a time when other laundry patrons are few and far between. On a final note, I am deeply grateful to the University for providing free laundry. At least we know that tuition is going somewhere =).