In today’s Freakonomics column, Dubner and Levitt write:
we can’t think of a single person who, since the invention of the washing machine, practices “laundry for fun.”
Look no further: I do. And not just laundry: For my tenth high school reunion I listed my hobbies as “doing the dishes.” Yes, I enjoy doing the dishes. Long ago I hired someone to clean my apartment (including laundry) not because it was dirty but because I was spending too much time cleaning it. More recently, because of the growing success of The Shangri-La Diet (which Dubner and Levitt have everything to do with), I decided I could go back to cleaning a bit more so I hired someone to clean my apartment but not do my laundry.
Before watching faces in the morning I suppose I was as messy as a typical guy. The mood elevation produced by faces suddenly changed me: I discovered I enjoyed cleaning, and I started to spend lots of time (about an hour/day) doing it. It would be harsh to say that messiness is a sign of depression but I think that a very messy room or office — not to be confused with extreme hoarding — is a indication of the sort of problem that when it becomes extreme we call depression.
Do I read this right: you do not use a washing maschine but instead wash your clothes by hand? At least that is what the quote says for me.
Not only is this a lot of work, it also is quite a strain for the clothing to be scrubbed clean.
I don’t wash my clothes by hand, no. I agree the quote could be read that way. The column also refers to people who cook for fun; I’m sure they use tools such as gas stoves and blenders.
Gregory Hines, the late dancer, also mentioned in an interview one time (with the New Yorker? I don’t recall), that he enjoyed doing laundry.
I like having clean clothes, but prefer not to think to much about the process.