Laundry Land in Clifton Forge serves tourists who camp at Douthat State Park, other campers who frequent campgrounds nearby, and citizens of Clifton Forge and surrounding areas.
I approached two men and two women who were free to talk between loads.
Two of the four, a man and a woman, declined to engage in conversation and go on record, but one man and one woman agreed to weigh in on current events. Both declined to have their names published in the newspaper.
As the old saying goes, “Ladies go first.” The lady who agree to be interviewed was washing and drying several loads of clothes.
She said that she moved from Wisconsin three months ago to live in Eagle Rock, and she revealed that she has landed a job at an Exxon Station in Botetourt County.
Asked what her main concern is, she replied, “Everything is high because of inflation, but our wages are still low.”
As for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that continues after more than 100 days, she remarked, “I’ve not been paying attention to any wars because they are so negative.”
She continued, “It’s not the way it used to be; people are really struggling here.”
Recalling her days in Wisconsin, she revealed, “I worked in a factory that makes plastics.”
Concerning her move to Va., she said, “I live out in the country, and it takes 20 minutes to get anywhere to buy groceries; and on top of that, the prices of groceries are sky high.”
She added, “The price of gas is outrageous.”
As for the gentleman who grew up in the Clifton Forge, he lives in the area and is employed locally.
He revealed, “My main concern is gas prices and the way our government is sending money to foreign countries without taking care of people here at home.”
He added, “The way it is, we have enough fuel here in our country, but we are importing fuel from other counties.”
As for the war in Ukraine, he noted, “To be honest, I haven’t paid attention to it.”
Waxing political, he stated, “Unemployment was down when Trump was in office, and there were no wars unless I forgot something.”
“Gas prices were low, unemployment was low and inflation was low,” he remembered.
Asked about the way COVID-19 impacted him, he stated, “I believe it, but I believe it was over exaggerated; and the death count was not accurate.”
He recalled, “My wife was diagnosed with COVID, but when the test came back from Alleghany hospital, the test was not positive.”
“Before COVID was named, it was called a respiratory infection, and if I read correctly, as many people died from the flu as they did from COVID,” he offered.
He concluded, “Everything was just better two years ago.”
Laundry Land closed at 9:00 p.m. Friday night, and only one other person was drying clothes besides the four I approached for interviews.
I was unable to request an interview because the lady left her clothes in the dryer, walked outside the building, drove away, and quickly retrieved her clothes from the dryer upon her return.
With historic high fuel prices emptying the pockets of Americans, the national average price for one gallon of regular gasoline on June 23 was $4.940, and the national average price for one gallon of diesel fuel was $5.904.
While Virginia’s average hovered below those marks for both, the averages in Virginia were $4.776 and $5.789 per gallon of regular gasoline and diesel fuel respectively.
I drive a car that requires non-ethanol gasoline, and this week, I filled up my tank in Covington where I paid $5.429 per gallon for regular gasoline.