Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Washing Away The Old


What’s worse than having no clean clothes? Doing the laundry. Today, folks, I am writing to you directly from one of Cortland’s own laundry mats.

About ten minutes ago, the nice lady who works here decided to help an uninformed college student do his laundry more efficiently. This college student was me. Apparently the new “super washers”, aptly labeled the Speed Queen Commercial Washer, not only cleans the laundry better, but also do so in a more cost and detergent-using effective manor. Who knew…?

After I threw my now separated laundry into a machine I noticed that there were only a couple of people using the “old-fashioned” washing machines; the washers that I almost used. The attendant noticed that I was staring and interjected. She said, “I told them, but they’re being fogged by what they’re used to—what mom and dad brought them up on.”

This was a very interesting statement. It can be seen as a metaphor for all things relative to business (or even everyday life). When there is something better, why are we stuck with what we are used to? I guess this has been the problem when it comes to using new technology ( in a business, classroom, or even a household) all along.

[Side Note: This reminds me of my grandmother's strange stance against using a digital camera. She takes hundreds (literally) of photos and half of them come out like crap. If she had a digital camera she could simply delete the "bad" photos and upload the good ones. This would save her a lot of money and aggravation; however, she just doesn't want to let go of what she is used to. Silly, huh.]

As I sit her waiting for my super-load Speed Queens to finish cleansing two weeks worth of clothes I can’t help but wonder how long it will take for those old-fashioned washers to become totally obsolete.

These thoughts I am having don’t stand cemented only in the various laundry mats in Cortland; no, every business would benefit from removing the old and implementing the new solutions.

Maybe, Cortland, it would help if we got rid of all of the mom-and-dad style washers (yes that was another metaphor). Cheers.

1 comment:

Steven said...

Did you separate the whites and the darks? Not me! I think that the people who continue to do that have been brainwashed too. Well... separate something new on the first wash if you are not sure if it will bleed or not. After that you can pile everything into the commercial triple-loader. Am I right?