Collecting Quarters

Washing clothes is a boring but necessary chore. Mum always said to wear clean socks. I always answered,"OK mum, I'll change them."

That was great because mum had a washing machine and she did the family laundry. I live in an apartment and have to do my own laundry. Having enough quarters to feed two washing machines is a real challenge.

When I insert the coins into the slots, the tinkling actually makes a nice musical sound, tinkle, tinkle, tinkle. The hot water entering the machines makes a nice humming sound. The swishing sound of the clothes during the rinse cycle is almost hypnotic.

The washers were singing and I was paying for them to entertain themselves. The sound was catchy and before long I began to sing a little song of my own in time with the washers. They had a nice beat. The beat kept getting faster and faster. The washer was humming and the clothes were jiggling around. I felt the music in my bones, remembering all the songs I've ever known from lullabies to easy swing. My soul was singing along with the washers.

When the clothes were done and put away it was time to hit the shower. Singing in the shower was not an option as I had soap in my mouth but humming like the washers worked well. As the water went down the drain the song in my heart came pouring out. No one could hear it. I had the TV turned up and anyway no one was there to listen, not even the washing machines.

I decided I'm tired of saving quarters for the washing machines so I'll cut back on the number of times I need to do laundry. I'll fix those money-making, quarter-guzzling washing machines. The local big box store has a sale on undergarments and socks. I'm going so I have enough socks, etc. to cut down on my washing. I'm putting a bunch of jingling quarters in my pocket to help pay the bill.

Bruce Leigh

Bay Village

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Volume 5, Issue 20, Posted 9:37 AM, 10.01.2013