Airing My Dirty Linen

My Laundry Travelled Seven Thousand Kilometres

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Did I ever tell you about the day my laundry went overseas? Yup, that's right. Overseas. As in, from one country to another. And then back again. The incident has never been forgotten by my closest friends, who still hassle me about it, quite understandably.

So please allow me to set the record straight. I was in my early twenties and was spending a ten-day break in a city that was a couple of hours' flying time away from where I lived. I was visiting my girlfriend at the time and, because I was well brought up and lived a disciplined life during my boarding school years, I had my priorities right.

One of those priorities was getting my laundry done. You know what it’s like when you’re on holiday, right? So there I was, doing the right thing and getting all my dirty clothes together, when my girlfriend told me not to worry.

You see, she was a flight attendant with an international airline and was about to fly out for a couple of days. She said all I had to do was bundle my dirty clothes into a plastic garbage bag, put it into her suitcase, and she would take it on her trip and bring it back, freshly laundered.

Sounded good to me. So I did as I was told, sealed the bag and put it into the suitcase. Two days later, my girlfriend returned from her quick trip and, hey presto, I had freshly pressed shirts, jeans, you name it.

My closest friends were very impressed. Not just because my girlfriend had broken new ground, but because my clothes – and there is no subtle way to put this – had gone overseas dirty and come back clean.

PS: Did my girlfriend and I get married? Of course we did. She's the very beautiful, very intelligent and very resourceful Mrs Authorblog.


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