Jealous In A Most Peculiar Way

As I peer through the tempered glass which belongs to my car, I see mother and her two children wait anxiously for the laundry cycle to "END." Two hours at least. Washing, drying, and folding, they are used to this cycle. Seven dollars for the over-priced and watery "AJAX" detergent and two dollar bleach and they are already up to nine dollars without washing a load as they leave the corner bodega. If only she had a debit card, she wouldn't have to walk the extra three blocks to find a coin-operated laundry. Quarter upon quarter, the loads are being washed and dried as the "novella" is blaring loud in the corner. Kids are restless as mom quietly waits on a former bucket, which is now fashioned into a makeshift chair. Twelve more dollars as three loads are painstakingly trudging through the humid, non-air conditioned Saturday afternoon. The thoughts in her head swirl as her desires and dreams crash, because her necessities are barely being met. The final towel is folded neatly in her tattered plastic basket, which is a shell of it's former self, complete with duck tape making it a useful vessel again. As she walks out with her exhausted kids, was twenty-one dollars really a deal for another outing at the laundry? She hadn't a choice, really. Her kids were her first priority, so pride and love kept her from having her kids go without clean garments. The walk home is heavy, but the kids sense the burden on mother and take over the carrying duties. They sing, laugh, and skip over such mundane of a task, as I think, "How are they so happy in such unfortunate situations? Time is lost and the little money they have is overspent." As the threesome reach their humble sanctuary, mother reaches down and hugs the children. As they disappear from my sight, I realize they have each other. Difficulties no matter how great or insignificant are always lighter and easier to bear when people who love you are by your side. As I start up my air-conditioned car and head alone to my high-rise apartment,where my dry cleaning is waiting, I long for that in my life. I am jealous.