Bounce Towelettes

I generally washed my own laundry in Togo, using those big plastic basinettes. As I'd wash it and hang it out to dry, I would occasionally think about life in the United States and how strange it seemed. One image of American life that struck me as especially bizarre was Bounce Towelletes: you know, those little sheets people throw in their dryers. Try explaining them to a typical Togolese farmer: first you'd have to explain washing machines, then drying machines, then “static cling”.... from a Togolese perspective, the mundane details of the American life seemed both demented and absurd.

But on returning to the United States, I found that on taking my clothes from the dryer, they sometimes all stuck together. So of course, on subsequent trips to the supermarket.... well, you figure it out.

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