A Run-in at the Laundromat

Well, in the interests of balanced journalism, I feel I need to share the following incident. For my travel, whilst exciting and wonderful and populated by hundreds of beautiful people, also has a small percentage of less savoury characters to deal with. Please be assured that the following has in no way lessened my love of travel, knocked my absolute belief that there is infinitely more good in the world than bad, nor dampened my enthusiasm for Alaska - which is quite frankly amazing. 

                                

                      As I am in the US, I will use the term 'laundromat' as opposed to 'laundrette'

My accommodation had no laundry facilities and whilst walking into Anchorage I spotted a couple of laundromats on Arctic Boulevard. I memorised their location and decided a visit later in the week was sensible. Being quite organised, when I subsequently hired a mountain bike for a few days, and I chanced to pass Arctic Boulevard again, I decided to briefly stop and check out the facilities. Washing machines - check, driers - check, powder for sale - check, change machine - check and the place was clean, spacious and empty. I decided I would return later that evening on route to a bar for a late supper and a pint.

Arriving at 7.00pm (please note that the sun doesn't set here in Anchorage until 9.15pm at this time of year) I was greeted by two men, who were sat inside chatting by the door, wrapped up in coats, hats and scarves. I said hello. I noticed a mother and daughter near the rear of the shop sorting their laundry. I bought some powder, changed a $5.00 bill into quarters and loaded a machine. The two men attempted to include me in their banter. "Do you like to party?" asked one, "do you like the ladies?" asked the other. I smiled, mumbled an inoffensive answer and decided to go and find a place to have a quiet drink whilst my wash completed it's cycle. I ignored the offer of marajuana or crack as I left.

                                

I returned 20 minutes later to find the two men bickering with each other. Their language had deteriorated with regards to swear words and their subject matter was far more provocative. The mother and daughter had left and apparently they were the topic of conversation. "Samoan women stink," argued one, "yeah, especially their....." replied the other (making a reference to intimate parts.) "What do you think?" they asked. 'I wouldn't know,' was my conservative answer as I transferred my wet clothes into a tumble drier on the far side of the room. I figured I would be here another 20 minutes and would have to stay to keep the machine topped up, as it would only allow me to insert 25 cents at a time.

                                

I sat down with a newspaper and made a point of looking busy. The topics across the room became increasingly offensive. They discussed drugs, fights and confrontations with the police with growing volume and steadily became more racist and more rude about women They kept trying to draw me into their conversation and I noticed they were falling out with each other more and more. I resisted their efforts, but did not ignore them completely.

It was at this point that the main guy shouted over to me and said "Hey, you! You need a _____" and he said a word I didn't catch. I looked non-plussed and he pulled out a large bladed knife. "One of these," he said, "the blunter the better, so they can feel it when you stab them. Anything too sharp and they don't feel it - they don't know they've been stabbed." 'Not for me thank you,' I replied, pretending to focus on reading the paper, whilst I was actually concentrating on making sure my hands weren't shaking. I contemplated all my options. I couldn't make a quick escape, as my bike was locked to the railings on the window outside. I gauged relative distances to the the door. I knew the guy with the knife was the main person to be concerned with, as his friend was in less good and less coherent shape. I noticed that the laundromat had a few large trolleys on wheels which could be useful for blocking aisles or keeping someone beyond arms length. I knew there was no other way out of the building, as the less sober guy had already gone looking for a back door and a toilet, before eventually going out the front door to urinate against the wall.

I willed my laundry to finish and I prayed that the guys would leave or that someone else would arrive. 

And, just as it was about to.... literally a minute before the drier beeped it's alarm...the two guys got up and left. Just like that. I packed my clothes into my rucksack, put on my coat and left as quickly as I could before they could return.

I think I handled myself well, though I really had to resist a very strong desire to ask them to tone their bad language down. They offended me and angered me with their macho attempts to intimidate, but I knew that the best thing I could do was appear nonchalant, unconcerned and uninterested. Thinking back, I cannot picture either of the two men, except to say they were older, greyer, unshaven and well wrapped up. However, I can clearly picture the knife. I am confident that they did not intend to hurt me, but simply saw me as potential 'sport' with which they could while away an hour in the warmth. I must have been a disappointment to them.

In the future, I will do my laundry earleir in the day - though by the time I left it was only 8.00pm and still light outside. I have done my laundry more than once a week since I set off traveling. 30+ occasions I reckon, without incident - so I am not going to become paranoid now.

A friend said afterwards that there are aggressive people everywhere. Another called them 'nutters' and told me not to worry. Certainly, whilst they were down and out and rather rough, they are not representative of the people I am meeting in Alaska. I told the landlady at my accommodation about it later and asked her to add a section about not using that particular laundromat to her info-pack. She acknowledged that it was in a rougher part of town and was not one that she had ever used. I suggested that as it was only 5 minutes from her home, perhaps she should consider reporting it to the authorities on my behalf? I told her she could say that one of her guests had been intimidated by two guys loitering in there, one of which displayed an knife? I left the ball in her court.

I am no worse for wear from the experience, and it certainly didn't put me off my clam chowder, fries and two pints of Alaskan cider, which I treated myself to later that night. However, I must admit to  cycling away from the laundromat at a far greater speed than the pace at which I arrived!

Paul x