Doing laundry in John Jay is always a gamble. The laundry room itself is rather decrepit: a series of old Maytag washers and dryers line the wall while lonely socks and proliferating lint seems to always cover the floor. The table at the center of the room is usually laden with items that have already been cleaned and dried, but unfortunately, forgotten by the owner. They constantly tempt my kleptomaniac tendencies.
13 washers and 14 dryers : 458 freshmen
The ratio somehow doesn’t seem right (especially when 1/4 of the machines are constantly “out of order”). Complex algorithms are needed to figure out low-traffic times to be able to snag an empty washer of your own (you’d be surprised how many students get the urge to do laundry at 2 AM on a Tuesday). For those of us careful enough to plan laundry schedules (ie. me), there is the LaundryView, which displays the machines that are in use and the time remaining. Trust me, Saturday mornings are the best.
The Flex system frees students from carrying quarters around, but it will undoubtedly break down on a Friday evening, essentially knocking it out until Monday when the maintenance staff returns. If you’re lucky enough to find an empty machine, dump in your detergent and pay with your flex, the machine is then likely to be broken (A dryer that doesn’t spin! Why, I didn’t know they came out with those…) and you’ll have to go to the Hartley Hospitality Desk to get a refund (if you care enough about 1$). The ordeal is traumatizing enough for most that many John Jay residents have resorted to regularly use the Hartley laundry room, which boasts cleaner floors, a working sink, and friendly upperclassmen.
The part of the laundry adventure that makes it all worthwhile is the elevator ride back up to my floor. Each time I get on at basement level and bypass the main floor without stopping to speedily reach my floor, I know I’ve won the laundry lottery… this time.
