(The Launderama, Rachel finishes putting her basket of laundry on a washing machine , and walks over to the change machine to get some change . An old woman takes Rachel's clothes off the machine and begins loading it with her things.)
Rachel: Oh, 'scuse , 'scuse me. I was kinda using that machine.
Woman: Yeah, well, now you're kinda not.
Rachel: But I-I saved it. I put my basket on top.
Woman: Oh, I'm sorry, is that your basket? (Rache says 'Yes') It's really pretty. Unfortunately, I don't see SUDS .
Rachel: What?
Woman: No SUDS, no save. Ok?
(Ross arrives.)
Ross: What's going on?
Rachel: Hi, uh, nothing. That horrible woman just took my machine.
Ross: Was your basket on top?
Rachel: Yeah, but, there were no SUDS.
Ross: So?
Rachel: Well, you know, no SUDS, no save.
Ross: No suds? Excuse me, hold on a second . (to woman) This is my friend's machine.
Woman: Hey, hey, hey, her stuff wasn't in it.
Ross: Hey, hey, hey, that's not the rule and you know it.
(The woman and Ross stare at each other. Finally she takes her stuff out of the machine and leaves.)
I guess if there were no suds (if the woman hadn't actually started washing!) then the second woman didn't figure the machine was in any way reserved.
"So, if there are no soap bubbles, lady, and the machine ain't actually going round and round, then you ain't got no right to claim it's your machine! So push off and let ME use it!"
Forgive the bad English, but it's the way I imagine these peoplke speaking!
I think the woman meant that if the washing hadn't already started (no suds in the machine) that the washer wasn't claimed. As Ross pointed out, this isn't the real rule, but one made up conveniently by the woman who wanted the machine.
Suds are soap bubbles. What the old woman was saying is the machine is NOT IN USE at the moment because there are no bubbles showing in the machine. One does not take clothes off a machine because the machine is not yet in use. The old woman was wrong. Unless the clothes were on the machine for a long while and it was the only machine available.
I agree with Karen. According to the woman, you can't just stake a claim on a machine by putting your basket on top of it. A machine is only 'yours' if the washing is actually going round in the machine with soap suds.
....speaking....
Typo - typing too quickly!
I think it might be the same as reserving a table. I don't see your dinner plates on the table so it's not your table yet. "No plates, no save." So find another table. It's not something I usually say, but it's the sort of thing somebody might say!
