South by Northwest

 
   

           

 
        Today I spoke to a launderette owner who told me about one of her elderly regulars who comes in with a teddybear, then after putting her clothes on spin, she would go to the nearby cafe and come back to pick up her dry clothes with the teddy covered in egg down it's front. She says matter of fact that this customer is a lovely lady, and kept this teddy for company.                                                                                                   

        The beauty of these conversations is the generosity of the ordinary, and that is what I am seeking. Covid is a recurrent topic and has become an unavoidable part of this project. Working in a way that seeks to connect deeply with others has always meant being rooted in the present reality and the locality and needs of the site of engagement- the temporality of the people/community/place in synthesis with the happening wider socio-political and economic context. However, there was part of me that wanted to escape this never ending pandemic through speaking to people in this project, perhaps it has been a subconscious need of my own to deal with this peculiar elongation and fight against an invisible entity that no global physician or expert can make sense of just yet, to speak with everyday people to get a grip on reality through the reassuring mundane. So, it's very apt that many of the owners I am speaking to refer to themselves as key workers, a term, like shielding and socially distance has become our new ordinary. At first, it seems slightly out of place compared to being on the front line with the saviours of this tragedy, the NHS. Should we clap for launderette owners?

        They were able to open as an essential business throughout Covid, but like the NHS, even without a deadly virus, a recurrent unity across all the shops both male and female owners is the clear trait of caring for others. Going the extra mile as another put it, but without anyone noticing except themselves and the elderly, vulnerable or neighbour that is someway in need. 

        It's true that the UK is re-opening, indeed, I ventured out with a friend today and we both hit central London and even went into a shop together. It still feels very odd. Perhaps I should be rejoining society? I am quite happy to do this through the voices of others just now, as they also seem to be finding their feet. Not one has been left unaffected by Covid.

          I tried to get an interview with Kitty's social enterprise laundromat model in Liverpool, but apparently they charge a consultation fee now. I managed to go one better and connect with Fiona Gallagher, Community Development and Volunteer Co-ordinator at Northmoor Launderette in Manchester, they were the predecessor and blueprint for Kitty's model. They were struggling due to Covid and mounting attendance costs,  and that part of me that wants to campaign the organisation's cause awakens, unfortunately though, Covid has sealed their fate and they have had to close. It's funny, Fiona said they wished I'd been in touch a few months ago I might have been able to help them, but it was great that they could have some sort of legacy through this project. It makes you realise that you can always be someone else's hope even if you don't realise it. Also funny to spend an hour on a Zoom call and to put a face to a facebook message. Fiona invited me for tea next time I am up in Manchester, I'll take up that offer and maybe swing by Kitty's too since this is my neck of the woods.  

          Each time I hear a regional accent it makes me so happy to know the world still exists outside of my room, outside of my current locality, and that the northwest, my home, is still on the map.