So I’m sitting in a Laundromat yesterday afternoon, idly reading the notices on the wall while waiting for the pen I left in the wash to coat my clothes with ink. Along with the de rigueur notices posted in any warm, sitable place in New York — “Lounge is for customer use only”; “Coin changer for customer use only”; “No loitering” — was a new one: “Television for customer use only.”

Now, is that really necessary? I mean, I can see them not wanting non-customers hanging out; the room is the size of a cramped closet. But the lounge limitations take care of freeloading loiterers, causing me to wonder who the television sign is aimed at. Lip readers walking by? Runny-nosed orphans with their faces pressed to the glass hoping for a glimpse of Must-See TV? Next-door neighbors with their ears glued to the wall praying for the volume to be turned up?

I’m amazed that this is a problem.