Brief Encounters in the Laundromat

Because I wanted some kind of normality during this Experiment, I brought my beloved T-Shirt sheets along. I figured that as long as I was sleeping on my sheets, once I closed my eyes I might be able to forget the fact that I'm living in an area that would've fit in the bedroom of my last apartment with room to spare.

The only problem with the sheets is that I have to go to a laundromat to wash them for, realistically, a few reasons:
1. I've already broken one washing machine here and, I daresay, the employers would not be pleased if I killed the new one, too. [And yes, putting heavy loads in a washing machine will kill it. This is good to know if you're living in an apartment with a shit washing machine.]
2. Allowing the sheets to dry on their own by hanging them outside requires way too much forethought on my part. I would have to get up early, strip the futon, wash the damn things and then hang them outside while I go to work. I just don't get up that early, and usually my thoughts aren't that clear in the morning.
3. I'm not entirely sure that the sheets would dry in time if I just hung them outside. And it's dirty out there, which kind of negates the reason I went through the trouble in the first place.
4. It's just worth the time and money to me to walk to the damn laundromat and have the whole business taken care of in an hour and a half.

I get off work at 9ish, and usually get home about 9:30. The laundromat closes at 10. Of course, "closing" means they shut off the lights, but the door remains open. I can usually get the sheets in the washer before the lights go out, but it's always dark in there when I put them in the dryer.

Last night was like all the other times. On this particular occasion I was taking up two washers--and later, two dryers--because I had to wash my blankets, too. [I'm not sure how the Japanese feel about this behavior, so I try to do the switch when no one's there...] When I went back to get them out of the dryer, for some reason the blankets were dry but the sheets were not. I went to the Coke machine to break a ¥500 and was checking the sheets again [maybe they really were dry and my hands were just cold...] when the door that leads into the house/office opened. A woman came out and started talking. I pulled one of my earphones out and said, "Eh?" She asked me if I spoke Japanese, which I'm sure I responded to in English. [Japanese only really comes out of me at the video store.] She then asked me in English if I spoke Japanese, to which I replied, "Not enough to count." [Although I was thinking, "Only the dirty stuff!"]

Turns out this woman spoke English really well. She allowed me to dry my sheets for another 10 minutes, and for 10 minutes I stood there in the dark and talked to her. She told me about her friend, Rita, who goes to school in Florida. She told me about the resort she goes to outside Tokyo. She told me why she didn't like the snow. She asked me what I did in Japan, what I thought of Japan, where I lived in Japan, how often I got to see my friends here, what I studied in school, what I used to do in America, why I changed my mind about becoming an attorney... I told her that most of the attorneys I had known were very unhappy, and that I was afraid that would happen to me, too. I told her that I was being paid to lie to people that were lying to me, and that I was getting really good at it. I told her that I didn't want a career where the ability to lie was so important. She said that maybe I was too honest. I assume she meant for a career in law...

Then she asked what I wanted to do when I went home, and why I was going home for Golden Week since I would be done here shortly thereafter. When I was telling her my reasons for going home, I started getting really depressed. I told her how hard it is to be here, how hard it is to be deaf, dumb and illiterate. I told her that I missed being able to understand people. I told her that I missed being able to ask people questions, stupid as they may be. I told her that I wanted to go to a busy place and just listen to people. I told her that I missed my friends and family. I told her about W. The more I told, the more depressed I felt and the more I wished that I could just shut the fuck up...

The dryer stopped. I thanked her for giving me the extra ten minutes and for talking to me. I told her that it was really nice to talk to someone [that I don't know, although I didn't say that] in English. I told her that I hoped to see her again. And then I walked home. I didn't even get her name.

It was dark in there. I hope I'll recognize her if I see her again.