I had the pleasure of spending last Monday evening at the laundromat. After lugging my clothes from my apartment to my car to the washing machines, I sat down to sulk a little and reflect on the fact that I am 27 years old and still go to the laundromat.
But washing clothes is very cathartic. After the initial frustrating rush to find open washers and get them running correctly, things quickly slow down. I have 25 minutes or so to reflect. I sit in reverie as my unacceptable and repugnant clothes become usable again.
Another milestone passes; the muck and gunk of a week’s worth of gym time, dust, and office chair sweat gets washed away with the rhythmic swoosh-swooshing of an industrial washing machine. Soon my favorite T-shirts will be wearable again; I am at my best when I can wear my best. Workout clothes are modern day battle garb for the gym and the mat; they are being prepared for combat once again, and when they are ready, I must answer the call. In the short time that my clothes are being cleaned, I must gather myself for the familiar challenges of the week to come. Will I shirk from duty when my RPI Wrestling shirt is ready to go?
Of course not.
I am not a stickler for cleanliness, but there is something honorable about the inventions and applications of society where things get cleaned. Like any self respecting Marxist, I believe that every time someone gets rich, it is at someone else’s cost. It seems like for every perceived technological advancement, the next generation has to figure out a way to clean up some unforeseen mess. That is why I think janitors, garbage men, recyclers, and the like are the few people who can hold their heads high in this world. Frito-Lay makes a lot of money feeding people junk food. Their packaging is soon-to-be litter that pollutes the life system of the world. Janitors are the thin line that makes a place like RPI beautiful rather than a trash heap.
I don’t know of any other profession that can claim such high moral ground. RPI likes to ask its students to change the world, but change is more often harmful than beneficial, particularly in the areas of technology.
It was engineering and science that produced gunpowder, chemical weapons, industrial air pollution, and television. The ability of militaries to kill thousands of people and chemically devastate entire ecosystems in seconds is the consequence (intended and unintended alike) of engineering invention.
I doubt that the developers of the first laser were working towards novel ways to track missiles and bullets, but, like it or not, their work makes it easier for rich people to kill poor people. I don’t know if the engineers who worked on the Apollo moon missions thought that their labor would be the basis of intercontinental ballistic missiles, but it was. The people who came up with asbestos were probably proud of themselves; they likely envisioned a new flame retardant that would save lives and make money. The developers of cell phones wanted to get rich, but they probably diffused their greed by imagining portable phones linking people in a new way. What they’ve done is permanently make society more obnoxious. How can they sleep at night? On a large pile of money with many beautiful women? OK, yeah, but still...
So I can sit at the laundromat, wishing that life could be cleaned as easily as my socks.
