To the editor:
Hi there. My name is Melanie. 滨鈥檝别 been homeless for three months.
I needed my clothes cleaned and the buses were on strike about a month ago on a Monday.
I pushed my shopping cart full of my belongings, clothes, blankets, etc. to a laundromat on Lakeshore.
When I arrived I pushed my shopping cart out of the way but could still see it through the window. I went in with my stuff.
Before I put all my quarters in, the owner came up to me, a little agitated, and rushing me and said 鈥榳别 will let you do your laundry today but we 诲辞苍鈥檛 let homeless people do their laundry 丑别谤别.鈥�
I needed it done badly so I was gracious and polite.
He asked me to move my cart and come back in 20 minutes, so I did.
I came back and he had put my female laundry in the dryer.
He would not let me in but stuck his head out the door and said 鈥楥辞尘别 back in thirty 尘颈苍耻迟别蝉.鈥�
So I did because I was just glad to get it done. When I came back my laundry was done and put in garbage bags.
He handed it to me. Then I had to find an awning to fold my clothes outside.
滨鈥檝别 never been treated like that before. I could have hidden my cart and he 飞辞耻濒诲苍鈥檛 have known I had one.
He was very judgmental and assumed I had been homeless for a long time. Now I know how the homeless feel.
顿辞别蝉苍鈥檛 a homeless person deserve to have clean clothes and bedding?
Because someone is homeless 蝉丑辞耻濒诲苍鈥檛 a laundromat want to help them stay as clean as they can if they are making an effort? 滨蝉苍鈥檛 that what a laundromat is for?
I felt like I was treated like the scum of the earth.
It hurt my feelings. It degraded me even more than I already felt for being homeless. 滨迟鈥檚 not easy being homeless and it hopefully will not be for a long time.
The reason 滨鈥檓 writing this is to be a spokesperson for the homeless who are people too. 滨鈥檒濒 never go back to (that laundromat).
It took me a month to decide that I needed to write this letter.
Thanks for listening and I hope no other homeless person trying to stay clean gets treated like that.
Melanie, homeless for 3 months
