I dropped some sweaters off at the dry cleaners today. I go to a place that is more expensive than another that I (used to) like but this place respects my wish to have no plastic sleeve put on my clothes. The other place wouldn't stop using the plastic sleeve no matter how I pleaded. Why? I pleaded, it doesn’t harm you…dust doesn't bother me I live in this great big dirty world and dust is the least of my worries...Anyway, my plastic-reductionist-friendly dry cleaner is hilarious (so I do factor the entertainment value into the price). Going there always involves a 15-20 minute conversation about his other customers and unsolicited advice for my love life. Believe it or not one of his other customers is a secret agent and he can prove this because she always brings in clothes with weird holes in them. I know hard to believe, but can’t argue with that kind of evidence can you? My dry cleaner knows me even though I have tried to cut down on my dry cleaning needs (nasty chemicals and all) but just in case he has forgotten me since last time, every time I bring something in I say, "Oh and no plastic remember (smile)." So, today he says to me in his lovely stilted ESL, "It so funny some people want no plastic (wait there are others like me?) and some want too much plastic, one plastic on each piece." He proceeded to show me someone’s dry cleaning order that had individual plastic sleeves put over each shirt! Of course my reply to this was, "Oh that is so annoying!" And then my dry cleaner man says, "I know and he is man! It would be better if it was women who said please, can you please put plastic on each just for me. No this is man who is worried about dust. So annoying!" I laughed a little inside at my dear dry cleaner's old world views of masculinity and femininity. To him this guy who wants each shirt individually covered in plastic has let all other men down for making such a sissy request. To me he has just let down all mankind. Either way he (and others like him) are letting us all down.
P.S. Some plastic-free camping (other than the tent of course) is on tap for the weekend-I don't think it should be too hard to pull off.
4 comments:
Funny, I just wrote about dry cleaning this week too. Did you see the post about the Clothesnik? A non-plastic way to cover your clothes if the dry cleaner will use it. Maybe he could suggest it to that guy!
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2009/03/clothesnik-saves-plastic-if-only-dry.html
Wow, I hadn't seen your post-funny or maybe synergy ;)
I have thought about getting one of these clothes covers. They aren't cheap though and if it got lost at the dry cleaners, I'd be pretty sad (and mad)...
The Clothesnik looks nice maybe now is the time to take the plunge and cross my fingers.
Dry cleaning! Yes! I have been struggling with this too, as my cleaner won't skip the plastic. I often remove the bags and return them, begging them to reuse (but pretty much knowing they won't). I tried to leave my own bag once (not a clothesnik, but same idea) and they also wouldn't do that. I need to find a friendly cleaner in DC. The "eco-friendly" place is prohibitively expensive, and I so rarely clean anyway...but eek!
This video is EXACTLY drycleaners & plastic. so funny. http://www.soannoying.com/blogs/load/video/vid/8
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