Quarters make the world go 'round...

One thing about living the 'urban' lifestyle is that I no longer have my own washer and dryer. There is a laundry room in my apartment building, coin-operated. The problem is that I never have quarters. Who knew they were so difficult to come by?

On my daily walk home from work, I pass a laundromat. I used to pop in there, get a few dollars worth of quarters, and be on my merry way. A few months ago, the owner was by the change machines and stopped me. "Are you a customer? Do you have laundry to do here?" I responded, "Nope, I just need a handful of quarters." He then informed me that the change machines were for customers only. Great. The quarter-well had run dry.

Also, grocery stores are guarding their quarters like they're gold. I ask for a part of my change in quarters, and the cashier starts blathering on about how they can't do it and how there's an ATM right there. Well, I'm glad they've shown me the ATM...will it spit out 22 quarters for my two loads of laundry? Didn't think so.

So last night, as I was trying to figure out a way to get rid of all the dirty laundry piling up around my bedroom, I had a genius idea. Car. Wash. Quarters abound!