She'd put her quarters into the machine and they provided a nice snack. However, nothing happened in return. Then she tried to run both her bank card and her student account card through the card reader on the machine and both were declined.
CL was distraught, not because the machine ate her quarters or because there may have potentially been a problem with both of her means of accessing money, but because she didn't know how she was "EVER" going to do her laundry. The sky was falling and it was the end of the world.
First, let me say, that I was extremely proud of her for having the initiative to do laundry without me having to ask (a.k.a. nag) her about it. Wooo hooo!!! WAY TO BE A GROWN UP!!!
From a distance, I had a hard time understanding the angst this situation was producing. Also, my technical ESP was broken on this day, and in spite of the questions I asked, I was unable to fix the machine, resolve the problem, or provide any sort of helpful advice. So, as she was hanging up on me, I got the response: "I don't know why I called, you can’t help me, you're not here!" I had to laugh...
This incident has prompted me to address why my favorite nickname for her is "Chicken Little".
I hate to stereotype, but in this case I’m going to, and describe her sensibility as "artistic." Let’s just say that she can occasionally be a bit… ummm… sensitive and dramatic. Since she was a toddler, every day is either the BEST DAY EVER, or the absolute WORST DAY OF HER LIFE, depending on what has happened in the last 2 – 3 hours.
For those times when the sky was falling, “Chicken Little” just seemed like the most appropriate moniker.
I'm sure you're dying to know - “Does she have clean clothes?” Later that evening, CL apologized for the drama (no worries – there wasn’t any on my end) and let me know her solution. Instead of talking to the maintenance people, the RA, or the person at the front desk (all of those were my suggestions), she pulled her stuff out of the machine, went back to her room, went online and found a different laundromat 0.2 miles away. I was informed that she will go there in the future.
All is well with the world again, and the sky continues to remain where it is meant to be. (surprise, surprise!)
