Man Vs. Machine

I went to pick up my laundry from the laundromat a little after 10:30 tonight. This is extremely late for me on a school night, so I just wanted to get in and get out. So, even though there were still four minutes left on my dryer time, I decided to just open up the dryer, throw my clothes in the cart, and get back home.

Usually once you open the dryer door about five inches it stops spinning and you can pull your clothes out. But not this time. The dryer continued to spin. Somehow I took this as a challenge. I began to pull out my clothes and throw them in my cart. At first it looked as though I would easily beat the four minutes remaining on the dryer clock, but as the amount of clothing diminished, the task became more difficult. There was still two minutes left and many socks, pairs of underwear, and tank tops spinning just out of my grasp. With one minute left I was grasping at any item I could reach still clinging to the dryer walls. I pulled out the last sock about ten seconds before the buzzer rang and triumpantly threw it in my cart.

I shut the dryer door, then turned to find the three other laundromat patrons staring at me. They were probably wondering why I hadn't just waited, why I had chosen to risk life and limb for the sake of four minutes. I left quickly, but now I wish I had done a victory lap around the laundromat. Afterall, I'm moving in a week and a half and will probably never see these people again. What better time to make a fool of myself?