I think the whole concept behind the laundry fairy got established one Thanksgiving when I was a teenager. For some unknown, and absolutely wonderful reason, our family was spending Thanksgiving Day just the five of us. No grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces or nephews. Just us!
My extended family was chaotic. My grandmothers were in serious competition with each other, my uncle was quietly rude, ignoring most, the noise level was always intense. Someone was always sick at the holidays.
This particular Thanksgiving we each picked a name out of the hat and were told to do nice things for that person secretly. I loved it. I ended up doing secret stuff for everyone. Something about doing nice things in secret just seriously appealed to me. It still does, actually.
Flash forward a couple years to college dorm life. Laundry room. Someone else's dry clothes in the dryer and my clean, wet clothes ready to go in. I took her things out and put mine in. It seemed so rude just to leave them in a pile to get all wrinkled -- voila -- The Laundry Fairy! I folded up her things and left them there. I was actually a bit furtive. Didn't want to get caught. I wasn't sure how weird it would seem to someone I didn't know. All through college I would do this whenever clothes were left in the dryer and I wanted to use it.
It would be a great story if this had become some sort of big deal, who is that masked woman thing. But it didn't.
This morning I went out to do my daughter's laundry. I was s'posed to pick her and her stuff up yesterday from college. Instead I picked her stuff up and volunteered to do her laundry. The dryer was full of our tenant's laundry, so I pulled it out, stuffed YRR's wet clothes in the dryer and folded his stuff up. It will be no secret it's me. Still it was fun to do something nice for someone is a kind of secret way.
They would probably throw me out if I wandered into a local laundromat and started folding clothes. Actually, I would throw myself out. . .that would be just too creeepy! Still it was fun to be reminded of nice stories from the past!
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3 comments:
I love those unexpected surprises! My security code is ninge - a ninja who works only with GE appliances.
I love Random Acts of Kindness. My mom and her friends actually have a RAK club. Everyone brings $20. The hostess gets to decide how to use the money in a random act of kindess that month. The next month they meet someplace else, the last hostess reports on her RAK and they all give again. Someday I'm going to found one of these clubs. Doesn't it sound lovely?
I never knew that of you; that you were a laundry fairy! It sounds magical and utterly kind. And, I LOVE the idea of a RAK club; what a terrific idea!
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