It's a Small World (and Laundry Room) after all

On Monday morning-ish through noon-ish, I did some (much needed) laundry. I loaded up two baskets and trekked to the laundry room in the next building.

Inside, the kid I see raking leaves and sweeping the porches was finishing up sweeping the floor of lint, dust, and stray Bounce Fabric Softener sheets. I said hi and introduced myself, finally, as I'd seen him around the Complex a lot this past week. Tony "sub-contracts" through his Uncle, the maintenance guy. He had the TV pretty loud and was about to start moping, so I left him alone and loaded up a couple of washers.

Soon, a wee-petite woman skips in, says hi, and starts moving her laundry from washer to dryer.

"Have we met before?" she asks.

"Um...I think we bumped into each other her, maybe."

"Oh, yeah, three weeks ago."

And off she goes. We meet again during my move from washer to dryer. And again when I come back to fluff and fold. I ask her if she wanted part of the table (as my shit lay completely spread out), she said no she folded upstairs in her apartment. As the conversation continued, Carrie mainly holding a monologue, I learned she ran one of the Lakeview Pantries. (no, they're not hiring, I already asked). She talked excitedly about her job and program which does sound amazing and helpful to many people. Particularly good news for her is the fact they just hired another person who will be able to cover for her while she goes on vacation to visit family.

"Oh, you're not from Chicago originally?"

"No, I and my husband are from a tiny town in Ohio, you've probably never heard of called ATHENS."

"Shut up, I went to O.U."

They're maybe four years younger than me. He's an appointment setter by 3 days, an artist for life (painting). They have both a cat and a four foot Iguana. And she likes people, he does not. And I can usually find her doing laundry on Mondays.

Maybe I'll see them around.