Connections
*Author's Note: This story takes place during the pandemic when the chip shortage made getting anything electronic difficult if not impossible. PS5s were on back order for up to a year. Home Depot needed 4-8 weeks for any appliance. I know, because we bought a new washer and dryer.
*****
"That's great, Mom! How long is it supposed to take? Like a week?"
"A week? Try two months!"
"For a washing machine? Are you serious?"
"Yes! They told me the chip shortage is the problem."
"I thought that was a car thing?"
Her mother sighed then said that was also true.
"It is. But it's pretty much everything from smart phones to jet aircraft to appliances to you name it are impacted by the shortage. I had no idea how many things are dependent on microchips. Do you know how many are in one cell phone?"
Her daughter had no idea and told her mom she couldn't even guess but did anyway.
"I don't know. Like a hundred or so?"
"Just one chip. But that one itty, bitty chip can have over 15 billion transistors in it! I also just learned it takes three months and millions of gallons of water to turn a silicon wafer into a a few dozen chips!"
"I...I'm lost, Mom. I'm just glad you'll eventually get a new machine."
"Me, too. But that means I'll be at...."
Her daughter couldn't see her mom cringing, but she could she face in her mind.
"The laundromat. You know, where your great-grandparents washed their clothes every week for years."
"Mom. That isn't safe," her 18-year old college freshman said.
"I don't have a lot of choices, Megan," her mom said with some resignation in her voice.
"Just don't go after dark, okay? Promise?"
"No. I wouldn't do that, and yes, I do promise."
"Mom?"
Her mother knew what was coming just by the sound of her daughter's voice but didn't let on and promised herself she wouldn't get upset.
"Have you met anyone?"
"No. Not really."
"And 'not really' really means 'no', huh?"
"Megan. Your dad and I just got divorced, so it's only been a little over a year. You can't expect me to just date every man I see."
"No, but I could expect my beautiful mom who, as you'll recall, was mistaken for my older sister when you brought me to school to meet someone."
That had happened, and it was very flattering, but Kate Bennett told her daughter the man who said it was just trying to make her feel good. Until someone else said it just a few minutes later.
"I have a lot going on, too, you know," Kate said a little defensively.
"I know you work, but Dad's paying for college. I just can't believe you don't have any time to devout to a social life."
She did work, but she worked 40 hours a week like most people, and it wasn't a difficult job, so she had plenty of time for a social life. She was still just too heartbroken to trust anyone, and until that changed, Kate had no desire to get involved with anyone.
When her mom didn't respond Megan asked her if she'd signed up for the dating site they talked about the last time she called.
"I've been thinking about it," her mom said somewhat evasively.
"Mom? I've got a class, so I need to go, but you promised you'd try, and while I don't want to be mean, I don't think you've made any effort at all."
"All I can say is it isn't easy, honey. Now go to class and get smart and make millions so you can care for your mother in her old age!"
Megan laughed and told her mom she loved her, and Kate did the same.
As she ended the call, Kate knew Megan was right. She did need to make an effort. But the whole thing was just so...daunting. Meeting someone alone made her feel ill. Then the first date and a first kiss and separating the frogs from the princes and worrying about trust and infidelity. It sounded easy until you were her age and all alone.
Kate Bennett had just turned 41, her husband of 17 years had walked out on her some 14 months earlier, and now, of all things, she not only hadn't been on a single date, she had no washing machine. Hers was on the fritz, and getting it repaired required microchips which repairmen didn't have. So she'd ordered a new one, but there was a long wait there, too.
She had pangs of guilt for feeling snobbish, but she'd spent countless hours in laundromats with her grandparents as a young girl in the 80s and later as a teen, and even then she never felt safe even though her grandfather was there most of the time. No, there'd never been an incident, but that was in a small town. She now lived in a much larger city, and there had been a sharp increase in crime over the last several months, and while she hated to admit it, she was always looking over her shoulder every time she left the house.
Now, with her daughter in school and her husband hanging out with a girl their daughter's age and living in a new town, Kate had no one to turn to for help. She couldn't just walk over to a neighbor's house with a basket of laundry and ask to use theirs. And even if they'd let her, she'd been raised to be independent and never ask anyone for anything she could do for herself.
The laundromat wasn't ideal, but because it was available, it meant she had a way to do it herself, and that was that. Still, she shuddered when she thought about it, and having to wear a mask in a hot, stuffy place only added to her frustration.
"I better get a few rolls of quarters," she thought before trying to move on to something less unpleasant. Thinking about her daughter on a large campus didn't help, and she needed to relieve the stress.
"Back on the bike trainer, I guess," she said with a sigh as she checked her watch.
The good news was her favorite show was on TV, and she could watch it while grinding out another hour on the only thing of value from her marriage, a Peloton bike she'd loved from Day One, and since the start of the pandemic, had been wedded to.
When she showered and changed Kate realized she couldn't hold off any longer. She was going to have to go to a laundromat in the morning, so she got online to see where one was located. To her surprise, there were three within a ten-mile radius, and two of them had websites.
As she clicked on a link she wondered what there was to show about washing machines and dryers. What she saw surprised her.
"This is insane!" she thought as she looked at the photos.
Everything was brightly lit, the room was extremely clean, and there were machines mounted on the wall that took cash or credit cards that bought tokens to be used on either washers or dryers.
"That's amazing," she also thought as she continued looking. "This is nothing like I remember. How could something so...awful...become so...nice?"
Feeling relieved but still concerned she looked at the other site and saw a very similar depiction of a modern-day laundromat. She tried to be optimistic and told herself this might not be so bad after all.
After breakfast she loaded the two baskets heaped with clothes into her minivan, a vestige from the days when Megan was playing soccer and Kate had to drive a bunch of girls around town several times a week. It was still in good shape, but there was a part of her that longed for something different. Something...sporty and fun. But that was a long way off as she was barely getting by on her own. She was far from destitute, but just paying for a new washing machine put a big dent in her finances.
Bellingham, Washington, was located in the northwest corner of the northwestern most state in the continental US and about 50 miles southeast of Vancouver, BC. Like most of western Washington, Bellingham was cold, cloudy, and gray much of the year. It hadn't been her idea to move there from Portland, Oregon, where she was born and raised, but her ex-husband got a big promotion and she reluctantly agreed to the move.
That had been almost ten years ago, and she now considered the city of some 92,000 her home. She had a modest home in a quiet suburb and a job she didn't mind. Her daughter was in college, and although she hated to admit it the only thing missing from her life was someone to share it with. She had girlfriends, but since her husband left, most of them began avoiding her because she was the 'attractive, single woman' they saw as a potential threat.
Megan was right. Her mom did look young for her age, and she hoped she'd inherited those genes. But Kate played a significant role in that as she'd always taken care of herself and spent very little time in the sun. Now, at 41, she really did look closer to 31, and best of all she still felt like she was 21.
As she pulled into the parking lot of the Econo-Wash, she took another look at herself in mirror and laughed. Her makeup still looked perfect as did her hair, and that she was checking herself out before going into a laundromat made her chuckle.
"Megan is messing with my mind!" she joked to herself.
Had she not looked at the website she'd have been blown away at the difference between a laundromat in 1987 and 2020. Nothing was dingy or dirty. There weren't a bunch of machines with handwritten "Out of Order" signs taped to them. It really was bright and clean, and since there were only two other people inside she felt almost happy to be there.
What did surprise her were two things. The first was a sign that said, "Mask wearing is optional" and the second was the cost. Nearly everywhere she went required a mask. Being a Libertarian she bristled at being forced to wear one, but she wasn't a doctor, and doctors were everywhere saying they provided protection from COVID. As to the cost, the smallest washing machine was $4. For one load! Dryers were equally expensive, and she was already concerned about over-drying things and ruining them.
She found a large table and set her clothes baskets on them then walked over to the area that accepted cash or credit cards in exchange for tokens. Knowing she'd be returning several more times, she put in a $20 bill and got a handful of them. She guessed she'd have about $5 worth left over, and that proved to be very close by the time she left.
Tokens in hand she walked over to the washing machines and started looking at how to turn them on. It wasn't complicated, but having never seen them before, it took her a moment to figure things out. As a little girl her grandpa would put quarters in slots then push a slide that would deposit the coins and run the machine.
Kate grabbed the first basket which had only whites in it and dumped them into the washer. She then took out her tokens and fed them in. A light blinked telling her to select the kind of cycle she wanted and the water temperature.
"Okay. White stuff only so...warm water... and..."
She pressed them both then hit 'start' and the washer began filling with water.
"Ha! I did it!" she said out loud.
"Nice work," she heard a voice nearby say.
It was a male voice and startled her.
As she turned around she saw who said it, and he was about four feet away and smiling.
"I don't think I've seen you here before," the younger man said.
He was wearing a shirt with the laundromat's name on it, so Kate felt comfortable enough to at least speak to him.
"No. My washing machine broke, and this is the first time I've been in a laundromat since...."
She started doing the math and quit.
"Since the early 90s."
