The Laundry Room Note
On Saturday morning, just before 9:00 a.m., Claire went down to the shared laundry room in her apartment building. She prefers early mornings because it’s usually empty and quiet. When she arrived, one of the washing machines was already running.
This surprised her. The machine was set to a long cycle, and Claire rarely sees anyone doing laundry that early. She checked her phone to be sure of the time.
As she loaded her clothes into another machine, she noticed a small handwritten note taped to the wall above the dryers. It read:
“Please don’t use Washer #2. It leaks.”
Claire paused. She had used Washer #2 just two days earlier and hadn’t noticed any problems. There was no water on the floor now, and the machine sounded normal.
A few minutes later, the washing machine that was already running stopped suddenly. The door unlocked, even though the cycle wasn’t finished. Inside were damp clothes, neatly folded as if someone had taken the time to organize them before leaving.
Claire knows two neighbors who often use the laundry room. One is Daniel, who is very particular and dislikes when people leave machines unattended. He has complained before about wasted water and electricity. The other is Rosa, who is friendly and helpful but often leaves notes instead of talking directly to people.
Later that afternoon, Claire saw Daniel carrying a basket of clean laundry and complaining about “people who don’t follow simple rules.” Rosa, on the other hand, mentioned casually that one of the machines had been “acting strange lately.”
Claire kept thinking about the note, the stopped machine, and the folded clothes, trying to decide whether someone was being helpful—or controlling.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
What do you think happened?
Who do you think wrote the note?
What are you basing that on?
Which detail feels most important?
Why does the time of day matter?
Why do the folded clothes matter?
Why might Daniel be involved?
Why might Rosa be involved?
What assumption are you making?
Which detail could be misleading?
What information is missing?
What would you ask Claire?
What would you ask Daniel?
What would you ask Rosa?
What would change your conclusion?
