Got stuck in a laundromat in Austin for 3 hours because of a poetry slam

I went to this laundromat off East 6th last Tuesday, just trying to do my weekly wash in peace. Turns out they host this monthly poetry slam right in the middle of the place, like between the dryers and the folding tables. Some guy read a 20 minute poem about his cat's existential dread while my clothes sat in the rinse cycle. I couldn't leave because my wet stuff was stuck in a machine that kept glitching. By the time I got out, the poetry had actually gotten good, which was the weirdest part. Has anyone else stumbled into a random event at a totally boring place?

3 comments

3 Comments

nelson.wren2d ago

Wow... that's oddly poetic, I just leaned into the chaos and enjoyed it.

betty_perry242d ago

The cat existential dread thing got me lol. @the_alex is onto something though, once you stop fighting it the story writes itself. Honestly sounds better than my laundromat which just has a broken vending machine and a guy talking to himself in the corner. That cat poem was probably the highlight of somebody's whole week.

the_alex2d ago

Read something online a while back about laundromats in Brooklyn turning into pop-up art galleries. Guess this is the Austin version. @nelson.wren is right though, once you stop fighting the weirdness it becomes kind of a good story to tell. I bet that cat poem was actually deep if you think about it. Now I'm curious what other random stuff happens at places that are supposed to be boring.