Crispy no more

Today was a momentous day for me, some might argue among it's my most important days yet. From today, my bath towels are no longer crispy. And behold, the household rejoiced.

There is, of course, a story behind this, one that’s not nearly as big a deal as my introduction pretended, but, then, maybe it is. Our story begins months ago, when my clothes dryer broke down.

For several months, I had to hang everything up to dry, and I used a folding clothesline that I originally bought around 20 years ago for our second house together (because it didn’t have an outside clothesline). This worked well, except for one thing: Towels. I absolutely hate, loathe, and despise crispy bath towels, and that’s all I’ve had for months because they were line-dried.

Although the dryer was repaired back in March, the crispy towels continued their reign due to timing: I’d just finished washing and line-drying towels when the repaired dryer returned home. Nigel and I had enough towels between us to last for many weeks—on purpose, so I didn’t have to rush to get them washed quickly (laundry was my job). After Nigel died, the number of towels was effectively doubled, since it’s just me. Today I reached the end of the final week with crispy towels.

This morning I changed my towels, as I do after my shower every Friday, and from this point on, it’s back to using towels dried in the dryer—nice, soft, smooth towels (the last of the crispy towel sets is in the washing machine at this very moment, and will go into the dryer later this afternoon). I know that other people may have simply re-washed all the already clean, but crispy, towels just to dry them in the dryer, but as I think I’ve made abundantly clear over the years, I’m more than a little unusual, and I just couldn’t bring myself to waste resources merely because I hate, loathe, and despise crispy towels. And so, I waited for time to run its course.

During that “long” wait, I thought about fabric softener.

I remembered how I used fabric softener when I lived in the USA, and I wondered what effect, if any, it’d have on towels that are line-dried—are they less crispy? And that right there led me to notice a cultural difference I’d forgotten: In the USA I used fabric softener, and I still know plenty of Americans who do. But I don’t know of a single Kiwi who uses fabric softener.

Fabric softener exists in New Zealand—I’ve seen it at the supermarket (two brands, both made in Australia), and there’s also a brand of dryer sheets. However, I never used fabric softener because Nigel didn’t; I eventually forgot all about it. It's been many, many years since I've seen any advertised on TV, too.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that I actually do know Kiwis who use fabric softener, but I just can’t recall anyone every talking about it. That could be because it’s just not something that ever came up in conversation (Kiwis don’t seem to chat about laundry procedures). Conversely, I clearly remember American friends talking about the brands they liked, etc. I realised that this not talking about some things is a cultural difference in itself, a notion that was reinforced for me by a completely unrelated topic.

I was recently talking with an American friend who said something about credit scores, mentioned that there are ads in the USA for companies that claim they can improve them, and also how if one does X or Y it could lower their score. In 27+ years in New Zealand, I’ve never once heard a Kiwi ever utter the phrase “credit score”, nor can I recall it ever being mentioned on the news, and it’s certainly never talked about in advertising. In a very real sense, the very concept of a “credit score” seems to be alien to most Kiwis. In fact, I have absolutely no idea whether they’re actually used in New Zealand and, if so, what mine would be—nor do I care. It’s just never been a “thing” in all these years.

Those two things are examples of things that no Kiwi talks about (as far as I know), and, apparently, neither is as big a deal as in the USA. The same would apply to food items, cosmetics, clothes—any number of things that people may encounter or use on a daily basis: They may be very different in the two countries, and so, too, the conversations about them (if any…) may be, too.

Sometimes it’s not just about the end of crispy towels, important though that is. Instead, such a thing can make me aware of other things, like (very) small (and unimportant) cultural differences between two countries. Anything that happens can be an opportunity for awareness and, maybe, even understanding.

Whatever, I’m just glad that I don’t have to endure crispy towels anymore. As a bonus, thinking about fabric softener and other cultural differences kept me from the possibility I might potentially beat myself up over having taken five months to get the dryer repaired.

What matters to me is the momentous event of the day: The reign of the crispy towels has ended. The kingdom of nice, soft, smooth towels has been restored. And behold, the household rejoiced.