"Laundry Terror": The laundries in Sweden

Résumé du document

For most exchange students their first experience in the laundry room is one of confusion and bewilderment. What is the sign up sheet for? It is only after we are taught by someone that we are able to adhere by the laundry rules. There was one story in particular that inspired us to choose ‘laundry terror' as our observation topic. One of our group members attempted to do his laundry at the time he had signed up for; however, the machine was already in use. Annoyed, but not prepared to make a fuss, he went back to his predominantly Swedish corridor and wondered aloud if he himself had made the mistake. The Swedes were incensed at this situation and stormed down to the laundry room and attempted to stop the machine. They pushed buttons and attempted to remove the electricity plug from the socket. These boisterous and rather aggressive actions were in stark comparison to the usually quiet and reserved personality of these people. This account of his first run-in with the laundry system in Sweden was a good introduction to the characteristics we wanted to observe and study. Our group decided to investigate if this was a cultural phenomenon or simply a case of strange housemates?

Extraits

[...] Conclusion The example of the laundry system in Sweden could at the first glance seem commonplace or even rather boring, but it is indeed all the most relevant. Washing one's clothes is an element of the everyday life that could be considered as insignificant. But insignificance is very helpful in our case: it enabled us to observe some deeply rooted differences, some differences that are anchored in the very body of the people. The fact is that everybody tends to think they behave the way but this example can tell us that the routines and the norms we believe normal are just a social construction. [...]

[...] This was to test if the reaction would be different if the machine was actually running, a far more difficult task. As the majority of the group waited in a nearby room, one member of the group stayed in the room in order to observe the reaction of the subject. When our subject arrived and realized the machines were both in use he was a bit angry. He removed the stuff from the machine which was not running and started it with his clothes in it. [...]

[...] you use usual coins, in the U.S. even only quarter coins, which are thus considered by students. In France you can pay directly to the machine, but in most of the cases you have to get in touch with a caretaker- a person who will sell you special coins. In Germany and some other areas of France every tenant usually has his or her own washing machine. Dryers are luxury, so you hang up your the wet clothes on clotheslines, either outside on special places or inside in special rooms or in your own flat on a clotheshorse. [...]

[...] The example of the laundry also highlights the value that Swedes place on the individual and the own world sphere. There is a certain self –centeredness that is clear when individual rights and freedoms take precedence over someone else's. Swedes do not like it when someone or something interrupts their planned routine or their personal space. One can even speak in terms of privacy, as Gunnar Alsmark does: Swedes know when they are stepping over the boundary between public and private. [...]

[...] They are rigid in their timetables and not willing to change or make exceptions. Comparison with our home countries This system of laundry is much different to our experiences in our home countries. Laundry systems in student dorms can be found only in France, the U.S. and Australia. Here in Sweden the use of the machines is covered within the rent of tenants, whereas in the other countries you are obliged to pay with coins for every laundry: In Australia and the U.S. [...]