Laundry room manners

Connecticut's OK, but one thing I've noticed is that good manners are not particularly practiced or valued, relative to Texas. Case in point: At least two out of three times I do laundry, someone removes my clothes after either the washing or drying stage before I've had a chance to do so.

You might conclude that I need to be more prompt, but I'm adamant that I'm not to blame. This morning, for example, I took up all three washers and fired them up at 9:02. I can be that specific because I looked at the time because I am a considerate person. I walked back down to the laundry room to move my clothes into the dryer at 9:32. As I got off the elevator, I saw a pair of legs running up the basement stairs, and one of my loads of wet clothes had been removed and was sitting in my laundry bag. A new load in progress was going in the washer.

Sometimes I feel like someone is actually spying on me and strategizing his/her laundry use just to irritate me.

In response, I began to try to stuff my three loads into two of the three dryers to make sure the other person had an empty one readily available and would not be held up. Images of very wrinked dress shirts began floating in my head ... an extra half-hour of ironing in a very busy week ... wet jeans I'd have to hang up in my apartment. Then I thought, "Why am I inconveniencing myself to reward obnoxious behavior? Screw this." I guess I'm adopting the Northeastern mentality, which is to have little to no regard for others.

So I used all three dryers, firing them up at 9:43. I left a note atop the in-use washer: "Hello. The dryers will be free at 10:43. I am sorry if this holds you up. I will be down at 10:43 to get my clothes. Please be patient. Thanks." So we'll see if patience is indeed exercised. Half of me expects to come down to find three dryers hacked to pieces or burning.