After I switched to the fabric steamer, I really didn't get so stressed in the morning.
If you have to wear formal clothes to work every morning, then you surely understand what I'm talking about:
You are ready to go out.
The coffee is ready.
The keys are in my hand.
Then you lower your head and look down -
The shirt is wrinkled like it was from a fight we had last night.
Yes, this is my life.
At least it was before.
I have been working at the bank counter for many years.
Every day, I encounter dozens of customers. Some just come to deposit money, some are in a bad mood, and some will ask the same question three times.
But no matter who they are, the first thing they see is you.
Not the speed of your system operation.
Not your financial knowledge.
But:
Are you tidy or not?
It sounds a bit realistic, doesn't it?
Welcome to the service industry.
I'm not a particularly meticulous person, but I really don't want to look as if I just crawled out of a laundry basket.
To be honest, I'm not the type who spends every day ironing clothes.
And I don't strive for perfection.
I just want to seem like an adult.
It's that simple.
But the problem is that there is a characteristic of the work in the bank:
You can't dress casually.
Our uniforms are usually:
- Shirt
- Jeans
- Or suits
These things have one thing in common:
They are particularly prone to wrinkling.
Especially when you:
- Hang the clothes in the closet.
- Worked all day long.
- The next morning, just took them out casually.
You will find that --
It looks as if it has just been folded into a paper airplane.
I used to use the traditional iron, and each time it felt like I was preparing for a surgical operation.
If you grew up in an American family, chances are that there was a traditional iron in your home.
The process of that thing is roughly as follows:
1) Pull out the ironing board.
2) Add water.
3) Wait for it to heat up.
4) Be careful not to get burned.
5) Be careful not to burn the clothes.
6) Pray that there is enough time.
Does it sound familiar?
I was like this before.
But the reality is:
At 7:30 in the morning, no one had the patience to go through all these steps.
Especially when you have already been late for 5 minutes.
The first time I used the fabric steamer, I was "half-coerced" by my colleague.
One day, my colleague saw me complaining in the break room about the wrinkled clothes.
She said directly:
“You need a steamer. Trust me.”
At that time, I thought:
Well, another gadget that I don't need.
As a result, she lent it to me for just one time.
Just once.
I understand now.
At that moment, I realized: It turns out that dealing with clothes can be so simple.
There is no ironing board.
There are no complicated steps.
There is no burnt smell.
All you need to do is:
Hang up the clothes
Turn on the switch
Wait for a while
Let the steam circulate for a while
So be it.
End.
My reaction at that time was very straightforward:
Why have I been suffering all these years?
People who work in banks actually rely heavily on these "small but stable" tools.
Many people think our job is very formal.
That's true.
But it is also repetitive.
Every day:
- Check-in
- Meet with clients
- Handle cash
- Explain the same policy
- Explain again
The pace of life is very regular.
So we really need some things to make our daily life a bit smoother.
Not more advanced.
Not more beautiful.
Just:
Easier to handle.
A fabric steamer falls into this category.
My morning routine right now is very real and very ordinary.
There is no fancy lifestyle.
Basically, it's like this:
The alarm clock rang.
I turned it off.
I wanted to stay in bed for another 5 minutes.
But I got up.
I brushed my teeth.
I hung up my shirt.
I turned on the steamer.
I went to the kitchen to make coffee.
When I come back --
The clothes are basically all ready.
The entire process:
I'm even faster at using social media than I am at doing other things.
After using it for so many years, I have come up with several very practical and down-to-earth experiences.
It wasn't advice from experts.
It was the kind of experience gained from "using it every day".
First: Don't stick the nozzle directly onto your clothes. There's really no need to do that.
Many people, when using it for the first time, will position the machine very close.
I was like that before, too.
The result is:
Water droplets
Wet clothes
Bad mood
Keeping a little distance can actually lead to better results.
Just like in interpersonal relationships.
Too close, and sometimes there will be problems.
Second: Hanging it up is more important than any technique.
If you steam your clothes flat on the bed -
the result will be mediocre.
But if you hang it up, let gravity do the work for you —
Things are much simpler.
This is why I have a dedicated hook in my home now.
It's not for the sake of looking good.
It's for efficiency.
Third: Don't strive for perfection. It's really not necessary.
This is very important.
You are not preparing for the wedding.
You are not going to be on TV either.
Just:
Clean
Flat
Looks like a normal person
That's enough.
Often, the standards we set for ourselves are much higher than those set by others.
Fourth: Remember to pour out the water after use. This is something that adults should do.
I used to be lazy.
One day, when I turned on the machine, I smelled a strange odor.
At that moment, I learned a lesson:
Don't go against the old water in the tank.
Now I always pour it out every time.
Just like brushing your teeth, it operates automatically.
Later, I began to pay attention to Nesugar because the content they presented was very similar to real life.
It's not an advertisement.
It's not the kind of promise that "changes lives".
It's more like an ordinary person sharing their daily life.
The matter they were discussing was actually quite simple:
- How to make mornings more pleasant
- How to reduce a little bit of stress
- How to make life less chaotic
These topics are very real for us, who go to and from work on time every day.
Because we don't need miracles.
All we need is for things not to be too complicated.
To be honest: The fabric steamer didn't change the clothes; it changed my mood.
In the past, mornings were prone to getting out of control.
You might get annoyed over a trivial matter.
For example:
Shirt is wrinkled
Can't find the socks
Coffee spilled
Then the whole day doesn't go well.
Nowadays, I rarely get anxious about my clothes.
This is not a big deal.
But it makes the start of the day easier.
Something like:
The car starts up smoothly every time.
You won't be particularly excited.
But you will feel very at ease.
If you fall into any of the following categories, I'm pretty sure you will find it useful.
It's not sales promotion.
It's just experience.
You have to wear formal clothes to go to work every day.
For example:
Bank
Insurance
Real estate
Hotel
Front Desk
These jobs have basic requirements regarding appearance.
You are always in a hurry in the morning.
You might:
To drop off your child
To catch the bus
To hold the morning meeting
You are not lazy.
You are just very busy.
You dislike complicated procedures.
You don't want to:
Set up an ironing board
Read the manual
It takes 30 minutes to iron one piece of clothing
You only want:
Solve the problem
Continue with life
Finally, I would like to conclude this article with a very American-style statement.
Life won't suddenly become perfect just because you buy a machine.
You still have to go to work.
You still have to deal with the bills.
You still encounter annoying customers.
But there is one thing that can help you avoid a little bit of trouble every day -
Then it's worth having.
For me,
That thing is a fabric steamer.
Simple.
Quiet.
Reliable.
Just like a colleague who never complains.
