A wonderful reminder
Today I was reminded of the great laundry issue Beth had. Some of you remember Beth receiving letters from the apartment manager addressing her hanging her laundry on her balcony.
Well, today I had an incident of my own regarding my laundry.
Two ladies showed up at my door (I have to add in that they had on way too much perfume and you could tell by the way they were dressed they had a lot of money) . Without introducing themselves or saying if they were with the city or anything they inform me that I have to move my laundry out back. The City doesn’t allow line drying your laundry in your front yard, and the tenants don’t like it either.
I was trying to remain cool, but seeing as I had already had an unfortunate loss this morning due to the fully stocked freezer door being left open, and I had discovered a $35 over draft fee due to my dr’s office cashing a post dated check before it was dated I was already on edge…
I informed them that my dryer was broken, that there was no place out back to hang my laundry and that my landlord had not informed me that I couldn’t hang my laundry there. And regarding the tenants not liking it- no one had said anything to me.
They went on saying that hanging my laundry out front made it look like a “little habana” out there. I’m not sure but I think that is a racist comment.
I slid on my shoes to go take care of the unsightly laundry as I repeated again that I had no other place to put my laundry and I didn’t know I couldn’t hang it outside.
As they left in their nice Chrysler 300, I tried my best to not give them dirty looks, after all I’m sure it wasn’t their idea to make a stupid code against saving money. So now I have t-shirts on hangers hung all over my already tiny apartment.
In my rage I sent an email to my landlord asking if she knew who those ladies were and why I wasn’t allowed to hang my laundry out to dry. I also made sure she knew no one had said anything to me about it previously. Then I sent an email to the city asking what other stupid codes I am unaware of. I made sure they knew that those ladies didn’t even say if they were code enforcement people or what. I also said that there are people who want to use as little energy as possible- which requires line drying your clothes.
So again I wonder- why is it that clothes drying in the wind are such an issue?!
** an update. My landlord emailed me back. Apparently one of those woman was actually the owner of the building. I guess the city code is really that laundry can’t be anywhere visible, so even if I put it in my back yard they wouldn’t like it I guess. They probably don’t like where it’s at now then huh?
in case you can’t tell that is my back door. I just opened it up, set the drying rack out there and hung all the hangers from the awning. it’s VERY visible to the public and in my opinion looks unsightly. 
oops
Posted: October 3rd, 2007 under unlabled.
Comments
Comment from T with Honey
Time October 3, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Hmm… after reading Beth’s comment I’m thinking you should get a copy of the city codes and see if walking around with laundry hanging on your body is in fact a violation.
Or maybe you could argue that the drying rack is just fine because the laundry is not hanging it is laying on the rack.
Comment from Charlotte
Time October 3, 2007 at 8:23 pm
I hate rules like this, and I agree with your reasoning and also your resourcefulness! I will say that when I have encountered sticky situations like this, I try to remind myself that I tell my children to obey me “because I’m the Mom” and I want to do the same by obeying our laws (even the ones that seem unnecessary and frustrating) for the same reasons. “Because, we’re the city!”
Good luck with whatever you decide — and so sorry about the bad day you had in terms of Dr. bills, freezer stuff, etc. When it rains, it pours, doesn’t it?
Comment from Jes
Time October 3, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Well, my apartment manager (also known as my landlord) stopped by to apologized for the rudeness of the apartment owner. She felt very bad. She told me that I could put the laundry out back if that is what the owner said to do, and she said I could even put in a clothes line pole if I wanted. Although I hate the stupid rules I do try to obey them because like Charlotte said, we need to obey them “just because”. Thanks for the reminder Charlotte.
Comment from Teresa
Time October 4, 2007 at 8:06 am
Thanks for commenting on my James post. That’s a cool way to think of it- as a test- and it’s encouraging. Sorry about the laundry thing… how frustrating!
Pingback from Beauty From Chaos » Oops, I messed up.
Time October 4, 2007 at 9:32 am
[...] This morning while reading my Bible God was quick to point out to me my bad altitude and wrong thoughts about my laundry situation. [...]
Comment from MommyK
Time October 4, 2007 at 11:57 am
How unfortunate that the building owner wasn’t able to understand your broken dryer! And I agree that the “Little Havana” comment is racist.
Thanks for visiting my blog yesterday!
Comment from Beth @ The Natural Mommy
Time October 3, 2007 at 4:20 pm
Well, if it’s against city code that laundry be visible to the public in any way… then you better make sure to go out naked next time!
Cuz seriously. How come it’s okay to let your clothes be seen while you’re wearing them, but not when they’re on a clothesline? (I’m assuming that you’re like me and make sure the “unmentionables” are well-hidden from view).
*Exasperation*