I got a smile from the lady who does my laundry

One thing about portenos (people who live in Buenos Aires), is they are not that free with their smiles. Even people who might normally smile in the US because it's their job, like waiters, shop clerks, etc., don't just smile for the hell of it.

I've been going to this little 'lavandero' around the corner. I drop my clothes off and a day or two later, go back to pick them up, all clean and folded in a plastic bag.

The woman who works there, is strictly business. I go in, say "good morning" with a big smile, and she usually just ignores me until she's finished what she's doing and is ready to deal with me.

There is another woman, who seems to be the boss, who is sometimes there and is a little friendlier than the woman who does the actual washing, but not by much.

So, I've been here 5 weeks and have taken my clothes there every week, and gone back and picked them up, which means I've been there 10 times so far. The woman who works there knows my name, which she writes on the little ticket, and even though she spells it Capra, I don't correct her, because it's easier just to have her write it wrong.

So today we repeated the same routine. I went and she was in the middle of something. She ignored me until she finished and then said, "senor?" and I handed her the little ticket and she found my clothes and threw them on a table and got a bag and put them in the bag. She then went to the register and told me how much it was, and for some reason it was more than normal, but I didn't ask why.

I know they don't have change, so fortunately, I was prepared with small bills and change. It was 12 pesos and 40 centavos. I gave her a 10 peso and a 2 pesos bill and then fished in my pocket for change and found exactly 4o centavos.

Then a miracle happened.

She smiled.

She said, "do you think you could give me some change instead of this bill?" and held up the 2 peso note.

Aha! I found the way to get a smile out of her - go there with lots of change.

I don't know why people don't have change here. It's a common problem everywhere except for restaurants (well today it was a problem in the restaurant I went to, even though they had a bar and were connected to a hotel, but that's another story). So, next time I go to pick up my laundry, I'm going to bring lots of small bills and coins and see if I can get this woman to smile at me every time I go there.