Goin’ to the Car Wash

So, I took my truck to one of those places where you drive in and wash the vehicle yourself. Having never done this before, I didn’t know quite what to expect. The instructions weren’t too clear as to how long I’d get and I’d only brought along $3 in quarters.

I stick in $2 — the minimum required and right away the clock starts ticking — 4:00, 3:59, 3:58…

I grab the long-handled blue sprayer and try to pre-soak all of the care before a minute is up — hopefully leaving me with 3 minutes to scrub and put the final spot-free rinse.
2:48, 2:47, 2:46…

Well, it takes me about one minute to spray all the car. Then I have to run over and push the button to change to the foaming scrub brush. I run around trying to scrub all the car — this part definitely took the longest.
0:51, 0:50, 0:49…

I’m still scrubbing just as fast as I can and then I see that I’m almost out of time. I stick in another quarter. Ah, it added 30 seconds. I wonder if it’s the same amount from the beginning…Doh! I just used up 20 seconds thinking about that. I stick in ANOTHER quarter…
0:57, 0:56, 0:55…

I finish up with the scrub brush, not being able to tell where I’ve scrubbed really good because it’s all covered in a white foamy mess. I switch back to the sprayer and push the button for high-powered rinse. That really shoots! I should of used that when I was spraying at the beginning. I rinse off the car and run out of time.
0:04, 0:03, 0:02…

Has anyone else ever used one of these things? I guess you can buy $1 tokens and then putting those in is like 4 quarters. Seems like that would be more efficient.

It kind of reminds me of the time I went to the Grand Canyon and they had quarter showers. No mention of how long they last so you just shower as fast as you can, hoping you don’t end up with shampoo in your hair and no more quarters!