Obsessive-compulsiveness puts a dampener on any daily routine. I’m not talking about the “I can only walk on the black squares,” or “I must tap the door handle 347 times before I leave” kinds. That kind of obsessive-compulsiveness is more than just a dampener: believe me – I’ve seen the Dateline feature stories on it.
No, mine is just a persistent little nagging in the back of my head. Uncontrolled, I truly believe I could become a poster-child for any OCD Dateline special. But, for now, it’s manageable.
There’s one activity in particular that drives me crazy, though: getting every single article of clothing out of the dryer and onto my bed (and here’s the catch) WITHOUT dropping a single piece along the way.
Luckily, our dryer is stacked on top of our front-load washer (thanks again, grandma & grandpa!). The fact that the clothes are already chest-height makes it easier to scoop them up into a big bear hug and dash into my bedroom with them.
There are two threats to this harmonious laundry care system:
- One sock manages to jump right out of your arms (or wiggle down out of the bottom of the bunch) and onto the floor.
- You think you moved all of the clothes safely to your bed – only to return to the dryer and realize that you missed one.
I have absolutely no clue why this is such an issue for me. What’s worse, our laundry room is right across the hall from our bedroom. If it were downstairs, I could understand the frustration in losing an article along the way. Either way, if those threats become a reality, I feel as if I have disappointed the laundry gods.
There’s just something sacrilegious about a clean sock plummeting to the floor below. Laundry straight from the dryer is a symbol of cleanliness and regeneration: like the magnolia trees blooming in the springtime (or an exceptionally mild winter, as we’re experiencing here in OH-IO). A fresh sock disgraced by an unclean floor is the equivalent of a late spring frost burning every magnolia bud into a crisp.
(This is what happens when I drink coffee at 8 p.m. and do laundry too late.)
Oh Ashleigh,
Have you ever thought of using a laundry basket? Or do you think that laundry baskets are just to play in like you did when you were a child? HEHE
There is wide acceptance of the germ-free “5 second” rule for food items dropped on the floor, declaring them still safe for consumption. I would assume a clean sock would remain safe for human donning after coming into brief contact with your floor.
When one considers a sock’s destiny in life…to be routinely violated by a sweaty foot, then squeezed into a smelly, damp shoe; or, sans shoes, to be paraded about all over those ‘dirty floors’ you were so worried about when emptying the dryer.
I would say that even a handkerchief, though it will be used on or about the face, would likewise be OK to pick up if dropped on the floor and deemed usable. I mean…what the hey!…it is going to be used to intercept snot propelled from ones nostrils.
Breath deeply…and take baby steps to overcome this minor conundrum. Everything is going to be alright.