Good People in Chatham

Laundromats are a great place to people watch.  This communal method of washing clothes has actually been a custom for a long time: from the days of carrying the kettle to the creek, making a fire to heat the water, and stringing the clothes through the trees till today. Another tradition of laundry mat day is bringing the small children who are not yet school age. This can be a challenge.

Over the years, I have noticed many parents' behaviors there. Children's behaviors are fairly predictable in this situation.  They are bored.  Sometimes they are sick. We still have to take them with us to do the laundry.  Many mothers take the tactic of chair squatting.  They expect those little people to sit in a chair and be quiet while they go about life's work of washing the family's clothes.  Some parents bring a toy for their child.  Some read to them. Some get loud and angry about what they expect.

Today in quaint Chatham,  Virginia here in the heart of Pittsylvania County, I saw the rare man.  The rarest of men: one doing the laundry with a child in tow. Not only was he tending the machines, he was also tending the child.  When the little boy cried, he picked him up to soothe him.  After the trauma passed, he put him down and followed him around the washers.  As he followed he talked to the child about what they were doing.  He clapped for the child as the small boy toddled along.  When the child fell on the floor, he wiped his hands, and told him this is what he was doing.

GREAT STUFF!

As I stepped up to the dryer, he shared with me which dryers seemed to be in good working order.  I told him he got an "A" today for his handling of the little boy.  He gave me a high five.

Yes, Virginia, there are good men here. Good men at the laundromat in Chatham, Virginia.