Laundrymat

I went to the laundry facility today, to do "the whites." Using the kbr bulk laundry, they are turning into the grays, so I tried hot water and lots of bleach. That seemed to help, but not as much as I was hoping for.

What do you do in a laundrymat? In the civilian ones I've gone to, like the one in Alexandria Louisiana when we were there, I saw folks watching TV (jeez; wasting time while you're wasting time), reading, playing cards or video games, eating, or just watching other people.

Today, I sat on a bench to read "The Stars and Stripes", and after a little while a young soldier came over to me and asked if I was using the table in front of me. "Nope. It's all yours." "Thanks, sir". He dragged the table off a little, I guess to get some space, and set down two brown towels. Next to them he laid his M4 rifle. I noticed it had mud on it, and briefly considered saying something about it to him.

He spread out one of the towels, and commenced to strip down his rifle, laying the parts in a neat order. He then opened up the other towel, and rolled out cleaning supplies; Q-tips, cotton patches, a couple of rags, toothbrush, wire brushes, and a tiny bottle of oil. He wiped the parts clean, dusted the crevices, and put a little oil on eveything. While he was reassembling it, his pistol slipped from his holster and clattered to the ground. Before he looked down at it, he quickly looked up and around to see if anyone noticed him drop his pistol. He saw me looking at him, and he got a sheepish smile, then picked up the pistol, unsnapped it from his lanyard, and laid it on the table to be cleaned. I guess the 10 second rule doesn't apply to weapons.