Laundry innovation eases student stress

Wellesley College has entered the digital age, the 21st century and the world of technological progress.  We are leaving the need for coin-operated laundry machines behind, advancing to the ease of merely swiping a card.  The College is now actively contributing to the lack of need for coins in the United States and the benefits for campus life are clear. Replacing quarters with a debit card has shown to be incredibly helpful in the busy lives of Wellesley students. It is more than obvious that this is a shift for the better, since one does not need to involve oneself in a treasure hunt for quarters.  

Consider the changes that have occurred in recent Wellesley years. The switch to Google and the farewell to the beloved FirstClass, the completion of renovations on Alumnae Hall, the opening of the Leaky Beaker in the Science Center and now the use of a debit card to pay for laundry.  Though this act of kindness poses a small change in the large scheme of things, the amount of time using a debit card for laundry saves more than one would think.

Last year, a Wellesley woman who needed to do laundry in the dead of winter faced a serious dilemma, especially if she was housed on the east side of campus and the coin machine was out in Bates Hall. Walking over to the Campus Center to use the coin machine implied braving three degree Fahrenheit weather—and putting on layers of clothing that were currently dirty. In such a case, she would not be likely to leave the building.  

Finally, an idea came to her.  In her wallet, she had two one dollar bills. She would put them in the vending machine, and instead of getting food, she would press coin return and get four quarters back. Simple enough, or so she thought.

She put her first dollar into the machine and pressed coin return, nothing happens. She pressed it again and again until she finally hit the machine and still, no luck.  

Okay, fine, she thought, I will just buy some unhealthy snack from the machine.  She pressed the letter and number code for a bag of popcorn, and was grateful that at least she would have some food, since she would not be doing laundry tonight.  The popcorn began to fall down and, with a few feet left to go until it goes through the chute, it became lodged between the peanut butter crackers and the corn nuts.  

No coins, no food, no laundry, no one dollar bill.

There are a variety of other instances over this Wellesley lady’s past three years—pressing coin return and getting a seemingly endless amount of nickels and dimes, or only having a 10 dollar bill and receiving 40 quarters from the coin machine—that contributed to her hatred of using quarters for laundry.

These laundry horror stories haunt many a Wellesley student who has struggled with the same stressful situations. Students’ non-academic challenges have been made easier by making our lives one swipe easier.

Maybe this change will encourage Wellesley students to kindly leave the Lemon Thai man a tip instead of keeping every quarter and guarding it with their lives.