About the work

He was eight when his father started bringing him to the laundromat. Not the family wash, but the motel’s, which was a different kind of obligation. His father said they had to pay their own way, and this was how. So he learned to fold the towels, always in a precise, hotel-corner way, even though they were just going back to the motel. He never understood why the folding was so important for towels that would just be unfolded again, but he folded them perfectly, every time. He’s much older now, but he still folds towels precisely, even when they’re his own.