Every story should have conflict. Every character should want something. And every story should have change: whether it\u2019s the reader\u2019s understanding or the character who evolves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day One: I fly across the continent, hop in a car and drive for a few more hours. After dinner I puke spectacularly and particularly all over my pants. I toss them in the tub and make them a problem for tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day Two: I want to wash my jeans. I wasn\u2019t planning on doing any laundry, let alone the second day of my trip. I also want my head to stop hurting and to sleep for more than six hours a night. I am exhausted, I can\u2019t think clearly, my stomach is tetchy, and I want to deal with the soiled pants before they become even more of a problem. Turns out there wasn\u2019t any time to do laundry on Day Two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day Three: In the morning I go out on a whale watching boat, in my lightweight capris because my soiled jeans are sitting in a plastic bag. Fortunately it was fairly warm and I had a warm sweater and vest, but the jeans were still dirty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to being preoccupied with how to do laundry in a small town that doesn\u2019t seem to have an actual grocery store or a laundromat, I choose to pull out my incredibly rusty French to accomplish this task. The night before we go whale watching, I ask a man at the hotel if they take laundry. He tells me no, there\u2019s only an industrial washer which would ruin clothes. I ask if there\u2019s a laundromat. He tells me yes, but gives me the wrong directions. Or maybe they were the right directions but I misunderstood. At least I know there is a public place I can do the wash. One foot in front of the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the afternoon, I look for laundry detergent. I find a \u201cconvenience store\u201d which has hand soap and dish soap, but no laundry detergent. I decide to go to the tourist information center, where I get confirmation for the location of the laundry machines. The woman I talk to is surprised I can\u2019t find laundry detergent. She calls the grocery store and confirms they have Tide. I realize I may have missed the grocery store. She asks me for my zip code and her co-worker is surprised I\u2019m from Seattle and speak French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I cross the street and find the washer and dryer inside a tiny building we\u2019ve passed 20 times. I didn\u2019t know what it was for, but over the course of our stay it becomes apparent that many people know it is public toilets and a place to get potable water. Fortunately for me, there is someone else doing laundry. I confirm how much it will cost to wash and dry. A dollar and a half. Just like the washers in my apartment building. Finally we are getting somewhere. I understand how to operate a coin-op machine. Just keep in mind I am in a foreign country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n