I have fond memories. Who doesn’t enjoy it? My favorites are the ones you drive into. Slide a few coins inside the machine. Or these days, pay the cashier with your card. They give you a code. Drive in. Watch the rotating brushes wipe the windshield, the roof, the back window, hood, bumpers, lastly the tires. An adventure, sitting in that dark tunnel with just you and the brushes, as the car rides a mechanical track all the way to the dryers, where heavy winds blow water beads off the windshield and the rest of the car. Damn near therapeutic before the car slides off the track. You shift from neutral to drive. Drive out of there. Come back soon. Always pleasant to smell the soap suds from the car, the bubble gum smell from the pink and blue foam that had blanketed your windshield. You drive off knowing you’ll see that place again at the gas station or on its own somewhere.

Some people prefer places where humans wash the car with rags. They use lots of elbow grease to wipe the dirt off the windshield, the doors, the tires. You sit on a bleacher outside, watch them wipe your car down in a long line of other cars. Takes about a half hour. Everyone is patient at the carwash. Nowhere to go on a Saturday. Costs twenty bucks these days. Dudes expect a tip of at least twenty dollars more.

Went a few times there to get my car spiffy clean for a job as a rideshare driver way back when, over ten years ago. They buffed my interior with vacuums and dry rags. Waved their rags in the air to show they were done. Went over there, got in my car. Dude started yelling at me for not giving him a tip. Didn’t have anything on me. Said, “Next time, buddy.” Drove off. Never drove there again, fearing they might recognize me and do something to my car. Wasn’t a good experience.

Lasted a few weeks at the job for a supplemental income. Too many complaints from customers that my car had a funky smell. The company let me go. Didn’t care about that job anyway. Can’t keep my car clean. Life is too busy for that.

But still go through the drive-thru carwash because the machine doesn’t ask for tips. Love the ride inside, like I said. I might go this weekend if I have time. Only takes about five minutes before I’m out the other end. My car gets dirty quickly out in this desert. Too many bugs and too much dirt flying in the wind. Need to clean the interior. Too much dust has collected.

The carwash used to be a party many decades ago. Music blaring. I thought I saw a movie where attendants wore rollerskates, but that could’ve been fictional. That would’ve been cool to see. Someone washing my car with them on. I would’ve given him a good tip for his effort. I drive off and feel better like after a trip to the barber, where my head feels lighter and cleaner after they’ve washed my hair.