Goodbye free dryer

One of the crown jewels of Chicago apartment living is an in-unit washer and dryer. Seriously, I dream about it. So until I have this crown jewel to show off to my family and friends, I have to use the communal washer and dryers in my building.

It’s better than going to a laundromat but it’s still a pain.

Until, someone in my building introduced me to…free dryer.

Yes, a dryer among our communal ones that didn’t require coins to work. You just had to jimmy the coin slider (sans coins) and it would work. So, for the last 2 years, I’ve only had to pay to wash clothes, never dry. That’s a dollar savings (which makes long-term economical sense).

Then, I was doing laundry last night in prep for Seattle when I realized a painful truth. Free dryer was gone. That b*tch sold out and now takes coins.

In a matter of 10 minutes, I went through all stages of grief, starting with denial. I don’t want to say I got rough with free dryer, but yeah, I Ike Turner’ed her around a bit in case she was holding out. But deep down I knew, free dryer was gone.

So now I have to make sure I have coins to wash AND dry. I know this falls under the #firstworldproblems scenario but still. When you get used to something like this, it is sad when you know those good days are gone.

Fingers crossed that whatever broke her to begin with, breaks again. Until then, I pour some detergent on the ground to honor you, free dryer. I’ll see you with dryer sheets in the big laundry room in the sky.

Oddly, the “hogger” I once wrote about is STILL obsessed with using that dryer. I think she knows something I don’t…for now.

Sigh. Do you have any fun, sad or commiserating stories about laundry rooms?