The above picture is a re-enactment of an experience I had at a neighborhood Laundromat. I am the re-enactor and my friend, Diane, is the camera person. This incident happened after I tried to fit my comforter into my Maytag to wash it. I tried pushing it down as hard as I could but couldn’t get the lid closed as it was just too bulky for my machine. I finally gave up and dragged it out to my car and set off to the Laundromat where they always have huge machines. Not having been to one of those before, I had to figure out just what was expected of me. I finally found a machine, stuffed my comforter in, plunked a bunch of money in it and turned it on. I was the only person there, so I read a book for a while and then stood and watched it go round and round in the dryer – very relaxing, I must say. . . I could have dozed off very easily.

I remember I was adjusting my panties as they always ride up and make panty lines. I hate when that happens, and it wouldn’t have if I’d been wearing my thong. But I couldn’t find it . . . I think someone stole it. If I had been wearing it, I wouldn’t have been pulling at my panties when I heard a voice behind me say, “Do you mind if I take your picture?” All I could think was that I was being filmed for a segment of “Dateline NBC – To Catch a Predator,” and it was Chris Hansen standing behind me with a full camera crew! So I let out a screech and whirled around, but it was just a guy with a camera phone standing there. I pulled myself together and told him I didn’t want my picture taken. He left and I was once again alone.

But it made me realize that you can be filmed on the street, in a store, in a park or almost anyplace and not even know about it. You could be picking your nose – everyone does it from time to time, not that there’s anything wrong with that -- and find yourself on YouTube as one of its most watched videos. That scares me. Does this mean we should always conduct ourselves as if we were in church, never adjusting panties or picking our noses? I don’t want to live like that and just hope I never see myself on the internet doing something weird. But then I never do anything weird – just ask my friends.