Thursday, October 2, 2014

Issue in Community final

Gabriela Allen           
September 27, 2014
Professor Young
ENGL 1100
Essay #2
Laundry Room backups

            Imagine living in one hall with boys and girls who are always trying to get their laundry washed.  Every day whenever I do not have classes, I walk into the laundry room and always see the machines going.  Sometimes I see other people’s clothes on top of the dryer.  It sometimes looks like a tornado went off everywhere.  Students are taking other peoples clothes out before the timer is even up.  Every community has its own issues and problems within it.  Our college has a few but my biggest issue is the laundry room and the machines. There are multiple problems with the laundry between the residents.  There are not enough machines in the laundry rooms and there are always people taking other peoples clothes out before the time is up.  Also, sometimes people aren’t always there to pick up their wash when it is done.  The RA’s assigned to each hallway should make a solution to their own problems.
            I believe there are not enough washing machines and dryers in the freshman dorms.   I know there are other dorms that have two of each machine and time management is kept up well so there is never really a problem with machines being open. At least two of each should be given because there are so many people on the floors that many people always end up waiting to get their clothes washed.  Waiting for a washer or dryer to be open feels like an eternity at some points.  My hallway shares our laundry room with the boys on our floor also so that’s twice the amount of people.  We all know girls have a billion more items to wash than boys do!  It is always hard to find a time to use the machines because they are always taken so having that extra machine would be such a great advantage for our whole floor.  Even people from other floors in our dorm come up and use our washing machines because theirs are never open either.  Therefore, that causes more issues for us too. 
            Another problem with our laundry room is that people are taking clothes out too early when they aren’t even their clothes.  There was an issue at one point when one of the guys took out our RA’s clothes before the timer was up.  Gentrification is the act of pushing someone out of something or a community.  In Valerie Kinloch’s essay, she proves points about gentrification.  “…Philip, Khaleeq, and I initiated a conversation on how art in Harlem can serve as yet another literacy response to gentrification” (Kinloch 148). This relates to the laundry room problem because you are basically pushing someone out of the laundry room by taking their clothes out too early.  How would they like it if someone took their clothes out to early?  I’m sure they would not like it at all.
            There is always a solution to every problem.  An easy solution to the problem with the laundry room is getting a sign in sheet.  Whenever you put your stuff in the dryer or washing machine, you put the time you started and your room number.  Therefore, if your wash is done and it is still in one of the machines, the next person to use the machine can give you your clothes if you don’t realize they are done.  Another rule can be that once someone’s wash is done and you want to put yours in, give him or her five minutes to get their clothes out.  If they don’t get them in five minutes then you can take them out.  Our RA decided to make this a solution to our own hallway problem.  She started it about a week ago and I have noticed a good improvement.  Everyone uses the sign in sheet and waits the amount of time needed.  Talking to someone about a second washer and dryer would still be a good idea so it is even less of a problem for everyone.
            We are beginning to have fewer problems with our washing machine and dryer now due to our solution made by my RA.  Clothes are not thrown everywhere anymore and there is usually always some amount of time to do laundry.  In conclusion, our freshman dorms have problems with the amount of machines we have for laundry.  Knowing this is the biggest freshman class at Fairleigh Dickinson, don’t you think someone should have thought about the amount of people that would need to use the machines to do their dirty, smelly wash?  There is always a solution that can be found with a problem.  My hallway in Hamilton found our solution for our problem and it is working.  Even the boys follow the sign in sheet rule!
           





Work Cited
Kinloch, Valerie.  “Harlem, Art, and Literacy and Documenting ‘Harlem is        Art’/‘Harlem as Art’”.  Teaching Developmental Writing.  Ed.  Susan Naomi Bernstein.  Fourth Ed.  Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Professional Resources,  2013.  147-160.  Print.
           




            

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