Friday, March 16, 2007

Laundry Girl Found

I used to hate it when my (now)in-laws used to call me laundry girl.

Before I met them, I used to come over to my then boyfriend-now husband's house to do laundry. It was better than trekking across the parking lot from my apartment back-and-forth, back-and-forth until I had all my loads of laundry done for the next week or two.

Plus, I think I saved the washing machines at my complex some real hard work...I mean, who want's to spend $5 for two loads of laundry when you can spend $2.50 by shoving in at least two loads worth at a time. Sure, the machines specifically say "do not overload," and you start to second guess yourself when they begin to squeak and groan and shimmy across the linoleum (who knew washing machines could walk?).

But I digress. Yes, before I met my inlaws, all they knew about me was that there was "some" girl coming over to their son's/brother's house to do laundry, and as my in-laws are known to do - they "dubbed me". At first I thought it was funny, then I started to get irritated as it continued to build up in hype among the in-laws.

But then, we met. I remember vaguely the first meeting. I could tell they were waiting for me to piss them off, do something to turn them off me but it didn't happen and we started to hang out more and they still liked me. They kept telling me that they saw what a great influence I was over my hubby. He seemed happier and he spent a little money instead of pinching every penny. We all hung-out and we partied but the clincher was when they met my dad Ken and his partner James. Forever, that sealed the deal. They're fun, they're fiesty, they drink, they dance, they make you laugh and for the first time, in both families, two families joined together as one.

It's rare for many in-laws to hang out and to even invite each other everywhere they go...but that's what happened and so, when "laundry girl" comes up nowadays it's with a bit of a laugh at the early days when everything was so new and everyone was waiting for the ball to drop but it seems we are all so lucky to be one big happy family. If this is what being dubbed is all about, I can handle being "laundry girl".

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wanna meet your dad one day. And your mom too, but for different reasons. :P

Digital Scott's Illustrationblog said...

A nice story of overcoming the judgement of others, which can be a powerful force.