What Are This?: Laundry and grocery struggles.

These things literally just peeve me. They always have, even when I was at home. For whatever reason, when I started high school my mom just stopped doing my laundry. Just, out of the blue. I didn't understand it. She did everyone else's and just skipped mine. Like, I know I'm not the favorite kid because I don't believe in my curfew, but come on, I'm still pretty cool! Love me, dangit! I'd ask her why she skipped me and she says "you're grown up now!" Uh, what about Dad? He doesn't even go near the laundry room. (Yeah, I'm that kid. Pulling stupid arguments out of my butt to try and get my way). So if I wanted my clothes cleaned, I had to do it. Along with that, I had started buying my own food after I got a job. I did this because I wanted to be healthier, but also because my family hoarded the good stuff. We seriously would get fruit snacks or nutty bars one day, and they would be gone the next. I thought my family were all just hungry hippos, but I came to discover something else. One day I asked my sister to borrow socks and I opened her drawer to find at least 4 packages of Fruit Smiles and 2 pop tart packages nestled in there next to her undies! Little snack slut.

Anyways, at college things just got worse (of course). I go to the fridge and see a lack of chocolate almond milk (since my roommate drank a good 3 cups of it thinking it was hers for some reason?) or apple juice, I shudder. Then I go to my room to change and see I have 2 pairs of clean panties left. (I love to use this word because people are so uncomfortable with it and it makes me laugh. Haha, panties.) Upon seeing this, I start crying internally as I slide my phone open to call my brother so I can use his laundry services.

Now, groceries wouldn't be so bad if 1.) I wasn't poor 2.) I had a car and 3.) I didn't have to carry my grocery bags for a quarter mile. But, alas, my life is just not that easy. So when I see I have a need, I sadly pull out my back pack and wallet and trudge my way to the bus stop. The stop is across the street (which I almost get hit by a car while crossing almost every time at that because it's a surprise to drivers that they are at a college campus with lots of pedestrians in cross walks all the time.) and down a couple buildings. I have to sit and wait for about 15 minutes for the bus to come. Once I get on the bus, it's usually crowded with people to drop off. So for the next 20-45 minutes, we are starting and stopping. FINALLY, we get to the bus station, where the grocery store is right next to. I swear this place jacks up their prices because they know that the college kids that come here via bus are too lazy to get on another bus after getting to the station to go to Walmart. And they would be right. (the round trip to Walmart takes significantly longer, Today it took me 2 hours.)So I go in there, get lost for a while since none of their shelf placements make any sense to me, and then wait another 10 minutes for the bus to come back. From there, luckily the bus goes straight to the University first. I get off and have to make the journey to my apartment before my bags either rip, or my hands start to undergo major circulation problems. Usually, I can make it home before any issues arise, but sometimes as I get to the Institute parking lot 50 feet from my apartment, my bag rips, and my foods crashing down. Whenever this happens, I have to figure out a way to carry them all separately. It's also fun when my beverages roll around the ground and I am chasing them with these huge bags in my hands. I'm sure my neighbors and random bystanders get a kick out of it and go inside to laugh at me with their roommates.

Laundry though, is even worse. It has become the bane of my existence. Like I said before, I have a procrastination problem, so when I need to do laundry, I NEED to do it. I could go down stairs and pay for it, or I could go down the hill to my brothers apartment and do it for free. Oh the things you do when you are poor, just to save a few bucks. So I collect a mountain of clothes around the same general color, and start my way down the 60 outdoor steps, cross a street and then try to make it down the steep sidewalk without pulling a HotRod fall down the rest of the hill.It takes a lot of strategy actually. I finally get to his uncomfortably smelly apartment, and start my load. One load probably takes about 3 hours. I don't know why, but it does. To avoid smelling the stank, I usually go workout in the mean time, but when it's my undies being washed and dried, I have to stick around and bare it. The reason why it smells so bad, is the fact that one of Chet's roommates never does his dishes, so his leftover food just rots. He just pushes it aside until he needs to use that dish or pot again. Chet tried to give him a hint by putting all his dishes in front of his door, but his roomie still didn't clean them. So there I sit on the couch, watching football until my panties are nice and dry, inducing vomiting at the same time. After they finish, I have to make my way up this freaking hill. I am already winded going up to my apartment from my brother's without carrying anything, so carrying a huge mound of jeans and such is exhausting beyond all reason. All to grab another set of clothes and do the process again. Yay.

Everyone, feel sympathy for me.

This is where my journey begins after my laundry is done. (Starting from my brother's apartment).This is a hill. a very steep hill. This picture does no justice to it whatsoever.