Ethnography

Ten Small Steps for Laundry, One Giant Leap for All Freshman

I could hear the humming of all the machines as I walked down the brightly lit staircase of Morris Hall. There is a large oak door with an opaque window that I struggled to open as I balanced the basket on my hip. I was almost breaking a sweat by the time I made the feat of entering the room without dropping any of my possessions. The room was quite plain; the walls were cement blocks painted a cream color, the tile floor was white, the ceiling was drop down with fluorescent lighting, and there was only a single window to let natural light in. I walked towards the middle of the room and faced the test that lay before me. The starch white washers on the right and rumbling dryers on the left felt like they were enclosing me, but this was a challenge I had to complete. I set my hamper of dirty clothes on a pink waist-high table that separated the washers and dryers and searched for some sign from God of what my next move should be. The ground was littered with lint, used dryer sheets, and socks that were left behind from the battle of my fellow freshman trying to crack the mystery of washing their own clothes. Luckily enough, I soon found that the laundry room in Morris Hall is uniquely designed to guide freshman smoothly and efficiently through the shock of doing their own laundry.

I had no idea of even how to begin this task; I began frantically searching for some divine directions as to how to wash my clothes. Then I found it; the answer to my prayers. Across the room on the wall adjacent to the entrance door was a brightly colored bulletin board titled “Ten Easy Steps to Doing Your Own Laundry.” Placed under the title were ten neatly typed instructions framed by different shades of construction paper. The cheerful colors, neatness, and clarity of the directions made me feel slightly more confident in the task I was about to perform. The large bulletin board was not the only resource of instructions in the laundry room though. There were posters that explained how to operate a front load washer, reminders that urged users to clean the dryer vents, and instructions on how to put detergent and softener into the washers. Because many Morris Hall residents are newcomers to the laundry scene the staff made certain to provide clear-cut instructions for all elements of washing clothes.

My first course of action according to these instructions was to sort my dirty laundry into piles according to color. The washing machines had cycles for whites, colors, and bright colors. I didn’t need to do three loads so I made two piles instead; one for whites and the other for darks. Step number two was to load the washers. So I found two idle machines with shiny metallic numbers “3” and “4” labeling the front. After I forced both piles into their separate holes I proceeded to my third step which was paying for the machines to start. Nervously, I approached the small metal box that hung by the entrance. On the mechanism, called eSuds, was simply a blue keypad, card swipe, and small screen from which vibrant red letters were prompting me to scan my Miami ID card. I did as it said since I had previously put money into an account, called Mulaa, which functions like an on-campus debit card. The machines can also be paid for by coins slots attached to each individual machine, although I observed while waiting on my laundry that the majority of my hall mates also use their MuLaa account instead of loose change. After sliding my ID the screen asked me the number of each machine I wanted to activate. I keyed in three and four and subsequently it directed me to choose the appropriate cycle and then add the detergent and softener to each machine. I pressed the buttons that correlated with each load and added the detergent and softener through the lid located on top of the machines. The eSuds mechanism made the process of paying for laundry easier because it gave precise directions on using MuLaa and told me exactly when and how to start the machines. The program is also helpful because any resident of Morris can check online through the eSuds website if there are any washers and dryers available, and if not, when the machines will be vacant. The benefits from using this system are efficiency and productivity because it communicates directions clearly to the inexperienced user and the laundry room won’t be overcrowded with residents waiting for a machine to open up.

Now that I had mastered the washing machines I had to kill the forty minutes of waiting time with very little entertainment to occupy myself. I sat down at the table and chairs that were across the room from the pink folding table. Other girls were sitting there as well either absorbed in their homework or avoiding it through Facebook. I didn’t bring any homework or my laptop down, but unquestionably I stayed in the laundry room to keep watch over my clothes. I began staring absent mindedly around the room, and noticed that there were precautions in place for all the disasters that an inexperienced freshman could cause. There was a drain in the floor just in case a machine overflowed. An extinguisher hung by the bulletin board in case a fire started from a dryer vent becoming too full of lint. A hamper of lost and found clothing sat next to the window for those who left garments in a machine or on the folding table. There was even a notice for a class on learning how to do your own laundry that had apparently taken place the day before. Morris Hall also provided a pile of “laundry starter kits,” which consisted of bags of powdered detergent, for the residents who were completely oblivious to the task of having to do their own laundry in college. In the very back corner of the room sat several linen bags labeled “Miami Laundry Service” that were awaiting the lucky freshmen who were able to avoid the responsibility of washing their own clothes. From all of this it is clear that Morris Hall is prepared for all levels of laundry expertise from the privileged that pay to get their laundry done to the neglectful who forgot about doing their own laundry to the point that they didn’t even bring detergent.

Soon enough the long forty minutes had ended and it was time for the last six steps of doing my own laundry. I transferred my wardrobe from the washers to the dryers, cleaned the dryer vents, paid the eSuds machine, selected the desired cycles, and even went the extra mile to put a dryer sheet in with both my loads. Then once again I sat down to begin the second even longer wait of forty-five minutes. Feeling like I could no longer endure another minute of boredom I abandoned my station at the study table and retreated upstairs for some much needed study time. Once upstairs in my dorm room I pulled up the eSuds website to keep track of how much time I had left on the dryers. When both machines had five minutes left I hustled back downstairs to complete the last two steps of my first time laundry experience.

Step nine was simple as I only had to fold my newly cleaned clothes and place them back into the hamper to haul them upstairs. I double checked to make sure I had left nothing in either machine and was about to pat myself on the back in congratulations when I remembered I still had one step left to go. Step ten was to call my mom and thank her for all the years of laundry she had done for me. I started feeling sentimental at this thought and called her at once after I had dropped the heavy hamper off in my room. She answered quickly and I told her all about how I had learned to do my laundry by myself. I let her know how grateful I was for the eighteen years’ worth of clothes she had washed for me. I could barely decipher her words through sniffles but I’m fairly positive she was saying how proud she was of me and how fast I had grown up. College life can be a shock at first for freshman since we are suddenly pushed away from our homes and families. We are forced to develop a new way of life very quickly and we now must take care of ourselves. Morris Hall made this as easy as they could for us by setting up the dormitory laundry room to make the task of laundry as simple to understand as possible. Washing my own clothes may be a small step (or ten steps in this case) on my road to adjusting to dorm life, but the freshmen that came before me helped the staff at Morris Hall to pave this road so there wouldn’t be as many bumps along the way.