Laundry

In our house we share all the work and that means that we all tend to gravitate to the chores that, if left undone, tend to bug us the most. For me, that’s the laundry. I by no means do all the laundry myself, but left to my own devices, I will keep loading the washer until there are no clothes left to clean.

I’m not sure what drives me toward this particular chore; maybe it’s the clarity I get from having everything clean at one time, maybe it’s the sense of organization I get from having things all in their rightful place, maybe it’s the simple pleasure of having something uncomplicated that I can do, and see it through to completion without any vagaries.

I do know one thing. It’s not because I’m the best at it. In my hurry to complete ALL the laundry, I’ve definitely taken some short-cuts and made some irreversible mistakes. It’s not uncommon for me to fly through a couple of loads of laundry and never look at the labels to see what special accommodations I should make. I’m not completely without guidance. I know the brights go with the brights and the whites go with the whites, but beyond that, I tend to take shortcuts assuming that if they look the same, that they are close enough and can be dealt with in the same way.

I guess if I were to be honest with myself, I’m sometimes too much in a hurry to look for special care labels. In the rush of each day passing by us with seemingly more and more dirty laundry to deal with, we’ve probably all ruined both an everyday article as well as a precious one that we’ll never forgive ourselves for sullying.

Now, looking back, it seems so simple. The tag was right there, all I had to do was look for it and then take the appropriate action. It couldn’t be simpler, but we sometimes, with good intent, make these mistakes. I guess that’s why we need to slow down and look for the tags.

The tag that will tell us that our friend, although on the surface seems durable and resilient, may need a spin in the gentle cycle. The tag that tells us our loved one can’t take the heat right now, and we should, instead of pushing them, take a walk and let them air out their issues to us as we listen; just listen. Or perhaps we hold back and don’t agitate our co-worker, but instead lend them a hand as they face a challenging task.

Maybe it would be easier if we all wore our clothes inside out, so everyone could see our tags, but I think if we slow down our own cycle a bit, we’ll see people’s tags just fine, and we’ll know when to use special care. After all, once a stain is set in, it’s much harder to get out.