For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for October 28, 2020

I don’t think they can hear you

as much as I live by myself, there are times I forget to check the pockets (I also don’t even bother with gum)

Just wait a few years until you find a tube of lipstick in Elizabeth’s jeans, Elly!

The person who puts the laundry in the washer is the last line of defense against things in the pockets getting washed. When I wash clothes, I check all the pockets every time. I also check the clothes for stains that need to be pre-treated. When you have kids, that’s what you do. It’s a lot easier than buying clothes to replace the ones that got wrecked because you didn’t do that.

I don’t know why Elly, who lets her son literally leave a foot of trash and rotting food on the floor in his room every day has any expectation that her son is going to check his pockets before putting his laundry out to be washed.

Part of laundry duty is checking the pockets.

Elly, do you think your yelling reaches the guilty parties that far? Mike could be in his bedroom with door closed and his headset on. Or in the shower. Liz could be outside with Farley. John could be in the garage tinkering with something. Yelling is a waste of time.

I didn’t check pockets. I did not want to spend extended time checking them If things got ruined in the washer, it was their fault. I have a husband and two sons who put things in their pockets. Hubby knows I don’t check pockets so he does his own laundry. Yay me. Older son is married so I assume his wife does the laundry. Younger son does his own now. I notice he does empty his pockets before tossing his laundry into the washer. THEY are more careful about their stuff when they know I was not. They were not my clothes and not my stuff. That taught them to mind their own possessions. So I only do my own laundry for the past 15 years.

I have a little piggy bank in my laundry room. It’s is “tips for the laundry lady.”

If Elly has her own clothes dryer, everyone else must have one, too. Neat! That’s the same way it was at my house! We all still had to use the same clothes washer, though. It’s not fair.

We bring our laundry to the laundromat that’s run by friends, and they do it. They love that we always make sure pockets are emptied, underwear isn’t all bunched, clothes aren’t inside-out (unless the washing instructions say to), and we even bring it in 2 bags: one for cold wash, one for warm. In return, they fold clothes the way we like (I don’t like shirts with a fold right down the middle), and sometimes give us little discounts.

Our daughter was famous for leaving lip balm in her pockets. Perhaps not quite as bad as gum but, oh what a mess!

A $20 bill with gum stuck all over it.

Loose change in the wash is sort of a “tip” for whoever does the laundry. Not required. Not requested. Always appreciated.

I think this is inaccurate; I have had gum, paper and Kleenex in my pockets, after washing, drying, putting away, wearing again and putting something in my pocket only to find a dry piece of gum, paper and Kleenex.

The money does disappear, my wife has a stand next to the machines. Covered in soap and goo, that is where the money is tossed.

The new washer now has a small catch box that will collect items.

Elly is throwing a temper tantrum. So what else is new?

I used the yearly ‘laundry money’ to purchase our entire St. Patrick’s Day feast! That is until they got wise to me and began to empty their pockets before wash day. It was a great 7 year run though.

Thanks to Lynn Johnston for providing us all with some amusing “Elly screaming again” avatars.

Yup I agree money is always wanted, teach John to empty his pockets.

Years ago, I worked in a scrap metal place that processed junked cars. The owner told us to remind the line workers that any cash found in these cars was the property of the company. I told the owner that I would “be sure to remind them of that”…lol…

Why can’t she pick out the candy & gum while she’s checkknng for $$$

Years ago, our crew delivered & installed a new dryer for a customer. As i was rolling the old dryer to the truck, i heard the clinging of loose change. The driver & i began to bang the old dryer on the tailgate and managed to shake about $27 in change out of it!

The cases of Schaeffer’s we bought with it were a nice tip for a Saturday delivery!

Just remember, you can’t spell “yell” without using the letters E-L-L-Y!

I like finding money in the laundry. I consider it my tip.

They would never leave money in their pockets…

I have noticed, that yelling out my frustrations, even if the guilty party isn’t there, is a great release and stress reliever.

My mom’s policy was that any money found in the laundry was her’s.

The gum wouldn’t be only on the surface of the dryer.

I always seem to leave a Kleenix in a pocket.

It could have been worse:

One of the idiots in my dorm washed his sneakers and put them in the dryer. He was lucky that the next load was a couple of garbage towels, but the school charged him for a replacement dryer.

I call it the “Laundry Lottery” — sometimes I win a handful of change, sometimes I get a handful of sawdust and screws.

Nothing like a sanctimonious, pontificating ex-hippie to go the situational ethics route.

I always told my kids any money found in the wash goes to a fund to buy the whole family an ice cream cone at the local shop. We’ve done it, too.

Typical ranting of every mother before the usual laundry.

Money dents the machine, and is therefore worse than gum.