Saturday, September 12, 2009

Can't wash 5 pieces of clothes.


One day, I was chilling and having a beer at Arathi Villas in Tanjung Bungah. I was waitting for Ruby to come for dinner after her work.

2 doors next to the restaurant there is this laundry shop. I was observing the amount of customers stopping, double parking their cars and walking almost queeing to enter the shop. I think it was really peak hours for the shop at around 6 pm plus, after work.

There were some with lots of clothes and others with just a handful(no joke!). The customers look like residents nearby in contrary belief that they would be mostly guest at the nearby Tanjung Bungah hotel. The cars that these customers owned were slightly above an average person's car.

I am surprised at some of them. Why can't they wash their own clothes? How come they are willing to spend money to have someone do it for them? How can people not have time or make time out of their busy schedules?

I totally understand that the services provided by some laundries are quite unique like steam cleaning or dry cleaning. But most customers just requested for normal washing.

People like this are spoilt and take things to easily in life.

Almost every household has a washing and drying area for clothes. Some have invested in turning rooms to a fully functional in-house laundry just for their needs. Others are still able to hang at their balconies and even inside their houses.

Washing to me is so simple. I just dump my dirty clothes in the washing machine. Pour some clothes detergent and let it run a full cycle. About an hour later, I hang my clothes on the hanger. A day later I collect my clothes so that it does not get dusty after leaving it outside for days.

Who am I? I am not poorer than those people who can afford the laundry. Neither am I richer than them as I have my own washing machine at home. As for time, I am seriously busy like anyone else. However, I make time and schedule my chores such as washing clothes. Honestly, it is easy and effortless.

You do not need to be a genius to operate a washing machine. Most of todays washing machines are automatic such as the one I have. There are even better and more advanced washing machines with fuzzy logic abilities. But, the simple and cheaper one works fine. Just to share that my family and I have had our trusty National for almost 2o years. You know the old school green one from the late 80s. Haha! Washing machines today are cheap and I am sure you can get a basic washing machine for less than RM 400 brand new.

I really felt it was so crazy for someone to take like 5 pieces of clothes to a laundry. Just imagine to drive all the way there, find parking and queue to submit clothes for washing.

No doubts about it that the shop is doing well and possibly it's percentage for growth and profit is almost equivalent to a Fortune 500 company. This is a cash cow and money making industry that attracts idiots! It sounds harsh but it is true.