Tenant locks and unplugs neighbor's laundry machine after he kept taking other people's clothes out before the cycle was finished: 'Learn to pay for your [own] laundry!'

A lack of laundry room decorum can truly ruin someone's day.

As a tenant in an apartment building with a frequently busy shared laundry room, I empathize with the author of this story, whose frustration echoes my own sentiments about unspoken rules in these spaces.

Recently, I went downstairs to pick up my laundry just one minute after the cycle had finished. I specifically had chosen to do my laundry during an "off hour" so that I wouldn't be scrambling to claim a machine. I was even able to dry clothes in one of the new speedy dryers, which tend to be in use whenever I would like to try them.

I always make a point not to let my clean clothes sit in the machine for too long. I know that doing so could wildly inconvenience other people. This time, I came down right after my cycle was finished, only to find all my clothes strewn about the table (some on the floor), still wet. Clearly, some neighbor of mine thought they could get away with removing my clothes early on in the cycle to get the speedy dryer when there were so many regular dryers available for them to use. My revenge? I stopped their cycle while their clothes were still wet. An eye for an eye!

This tenant was even more diabolical, but I have to admire their commitment. They noticed that a neighbor was frequently removing their clothes and putting theirs in during the same cycle so that they wouldn't have to pay. Not only was this tenant returning to the laundry room to find that their clothes were still wet, but they were also dealing with a neighbor who was technically stealing their cycle.
Because it was difficult to stop the laundry cycle entirely due to Bluetooth issues, the author decided to crawl behind the machines and unplug them completely. Seems like this person got exactly what they deserved and then some!
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via Unsplash+ (A. C.)

A person removes wet clothes from the washing machine.
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Neighbor keeps stealing my laundry cycles and dumping my clothes!

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via Unsplash+ (Kateryna Hliznitsova)

A woman puts clothes in a dryer.
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via Engin Akyurt

A laundry machine spins under blue and pink lighting.
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