Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today?

[supposebly]

I popped into my local pharmacy yesterday to get the flu shot. Easiest one since I started doing that. They always bugged me for a day afterwards, that's why I do them on weekends. Next weekend is the Covid booster.

[Yeah No]

You are all encouraging me to get off my rear to get my shots. I think I'll start with the flu shot as last year I had a much milder reaction to that than the Covid shot. I got my Covid shot last year about 6 weeks after recovering from Covid itself and for some reason my reaction to it was worse than to the previous boosters. My doctor told me it might have been because that particular shot was technically not a booster because it was targeting new variants. Whatever....Anyway I do dread getting the Covid shot this year for that reason but I am going to have to bite a bullet and do it soon.

As for early voting, this is THE first election in which CT is allowing early voting starting this week. In my town it's taking place at my town hall, not our usual polling place. As this is all new for me I am a little unsure of what to do but we got a flyer in the mail with instructions so I'm going to have to look at that first.

 

[Bastet]

Before we rack up another mod note about this:  Health & Wellness subforum for vaccine reaction talk.

[supposebly]

My 78 year old mother has been dealing with a flu and a bladder infection with intermittent fever for 3 weeks now. It aggravates me that she thinks she doesn't need a flu shot because "she never gets the flu". Yes but you are 78 and your part time job is accompanying disease ridden 4 year olds on the bus!

ETA: Maybe that should be in the Pet Peeves or in the Family thread.

Edited October 20 by supposebly

[Calvada]

I too am one of those who likes to vote on Election Day.  I'm old enough to remember the voting machines where I pulled the big lever, heard that Ker-Chunk sound, and by golly, I really felt like I had voted.  To me, it was the music of  democracy.  Now it's like a flashback to taking the SAT as I fill in the little circles.

However, voting on Election Day means canvassers continue to come to my door and I've been told that will stop if I vote early.  And as I get older, I will have to vote as soon as I possibly can, only because I will be afraid of dying before Election Day.  

[Annber03]

20 minutes ago, Calvada said:

Now it's like a flashback to taking the SAT as I fill in the little circles.

LOL, spot on. I honestly don't think I've ever done the whole "pull the lever" thing, I think every election I've ever voted in involved filling in the little circles. I wonder when that stopped being much of a thing, if it's even still a thing? 

[Browncoat]

1 hour ago, Calvada said:

I'm old enough to remember the voting machines where I pulled the big lever, heard that Ker-Chunk sound, and by golly, I really felt like I had voted.

I kind of miss those machines and that Ker-Chunk sound.   It was so much more satisfying than just sliding a piece of paper in a slot. 

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

LOL, spot on. I honestly don't think I've ever done the whole "pull the lever" thing, I think every election I've ever voted in involved filling in the little circles. I wonder when that stopped being much of a thing, if it's even still a thing? 

I remember the “pull the lever” thing with my parents (maybe they let me go in the booth with them when they voted for Kennedy?) but I also don’t remember doing it myself. I remember the pokey-hanging-chad-punchcard thing, and at least a couple iterations of touchscreens. (I’m no election skeptic but I always kinda wondered how they could verify those.)

I think I actually prefer the SAT-style ones we have now. That can be read electronically but they can also be hand counted if it comes to that. 

[Anela]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

LOL, spot on. I honestly don't think I've ever done the whole "pull the lever" thing, I think every election I've ever voted in involved filling in the little circles. I wonder when that stopped being much of a thing, if it's even still a thing? 

My first time voting was 2004, and we’ve only ever filled in the circles on paper ballots. Then they have us rip off the bottom, and feed it into a machine. 

[Anduin]

Here in Oz, you get pieces of paper with party names and candidates. You number them. All right when it's 8, not great when it's 50+ Okay, I've done all the parties I like, who of the nutter parties do I put last? Then the middle section with people I've never even heard of. At least one election, I was never sure the numbers joined in the middle.

They've changed it in recent years, you only need to do the top ten.

[Calvada]

I remember doing the big lever thing (after you flipped the small levers to indicate your choices) in my first few elections but probably was doing the fill in and electronic scan by the late 80s?  Early 90s?  I vote in every election, not just presidential elections, so there are a lot to remember!  

I used to vote at a church where the church members would hold an Election Day bake sale.  They probably made a mint, especially from those of us who voted at 7:00 a.m.  

[Dimity]

The more I read about voting in the US and in Australia the more I realize how easy it is here in Canada.  And yet our voting turnout for most elections is pathetic.  If it were more complex I can only imagine it would be even worse!

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, Dimity said:

The more I read about voting in the US and in Australia the more I realize how easy it is here in Canada.  And yet our voting turnout for most elections is pathetic.  If it were more complex I can only imagine it would be even worse!

It's compulsory here. At least for getting your name ticked off. What you actually do on the paper is your own business.

[emma675]

I love hearing about election details from other states and countries, I'm learning so much here. We're so international!

[annzeepark914]

I remember going with my parents to the firehouse and admiring the firetruck as they voted.  I couldn't wait to be old enough to vote and loved clicking my way down the ballot. I miss those voting machines with the curtains.

[Yeah No]

You are all getting me nostalgic for those old voting machines with the levers and curtains. When I lived in NYC we voted at a local school so I associate them with school gymnasiums with basketball hoops that smelled like sweat and rubber and the stuff they used to polish the shiny wood floors.

I have never gotten used to voting on paper ballots. It always felt to me like a step backwards. I once read that they did away with the lever machines because they were difficult and costly to maintain and there were actually more problems with security with those than the paper method. Yeah I don't know what I think about that. It has always irked me that they couldn't find a more secure way to vote. I know they were trying for voting by computer but I guess that isn't that secure either. Why not use a retinal scan? There has to be a better way but as usual all people do is argue about it and nothing gets improved.

[supposebly]

I miss voting in Germany. It's on Sundays, so fewer people don't have the excuse that they can't get off work. 

You also have two votes. One for a candidate of your choosing and one for a party (that could be a different one from the one your preferred candidate is from), if you want to have a balance of opinions in the parliament you're voting for (state or federal). Your votes matter so much more.

I vote because my father instilled in me the notion that if you don't bother to vote, you lose the right to complain. I don't think he was entirely serious but I take voting seriously. But it depresses me how little my vote counts in Canada.

I'm sure I'm looking at it through nostalgia glasses but still. I miss living in a place where it's a lot less socially acceptable not to vote and there is a proportional system.

[Annber03]

8 hours ago, supposebly said:

I vote because my father instilled in me the notion that if you don't bother to vote, you lose the right to complain. I don't think he was entirely serious but I take voting seriously. 

This tends to be my attitude as well. That, and so many people fought to give us this right. It's not something to take for granted. 

[Anela]

I voted. Now I'm going to try to shift to Halloween mode. The kids trick-or-treat next weekend (it's always the Saturday before Halloween), and we forgot to get the decorations up today. We're going to try tomorrow.

We've had beautiful weather for the last few days, too. 

[Annber03]

Our weather's been pretty nice lately, too. Though I'm not big on us still having 80 degree temperatures this time of year. I'm fine with the sunshine and blue skies, but can it at least feel like fall temperature-wise? We've had a few spurts of cooler days, but not enough for my liking. 

[shapeshifter]

70º F here.
Nice.
Second Summer.

[Is Everyone Gone]

Ok so ... do you think my friend is racist?

Here goes the convo. We were talking about NBA players and the new season. I asked him who he liked to watch. He said "the European players."

I was like "Oh, like Giannis and Wemby right?"

And he was like "No they aren't European. I'm talking Jokic, Luka."

I've not seen any signs of racism from this guy, ever. He works in a very rough school with majority black kids, and he's a compassionate, kind teacher to them. He's also a racial minority himself.

But that comment shocked me.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Sort of a cross between work and chit chat, but my confession of the day is that I half assed my closing chores at the grocery store tonight because I was upset that I was asked to do extra chores when the cashier who was second to last out was not assigned a chore. (Normally all cashiers get chores to do at the end of their shift while their drawer is counted; she just lucked out because she had an issue with her last order so she was allowed to clock out without doing a chore.) So, when I was told to do my chore, the chore she should have been assigned, and run a damage, I only cleaned the registers until I ran out of paper towels on the roll and skipped out on cleaning the pin pads. (The rolls were very low to begin with, so I just didn’t open a new one.)

Is it something I’d normally do? No I usually care about doing a good job even if my job is menial. But I was already annoyed because at a minute to close I had to wait on a lady who forgot she needed a load of bread and had to run back and get it. Then I got assigned the extra chores so I decided to phone it in. So maybe I feel a little bad about slacking off but hey if these kids get to get out of chores and get to call off every Friday night or never be available then I get to take it easy every so often too. Wait till I tell my boss I will no longer be available Friday nights! 🤣

 

Edited October 23 by Cloud9Shopper

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Sort of a cross between work and chit chat, but my confession of the day is that I half assed my closing chores at the grocery store tonight because I was upset that I was asked to do extra chores when the cashier who was second to last out was not assigned a chore. (Normally all cashiers get chores to do at the end of their shift while their drawer is counted; she just lucked out because she had an issue with her last order so she was allowed to clock out without doing a chore.) So, when I was told to do my chore, the chore she should have been assigned, and run a damage, I only cleaned the registers until I ran out of paper towels on the roll and skipped out on cleaning the pin pads. (The rolls were very low to begin with, so I just didn’t open a new one.)

Is it something I’d normally do? No I usually care about doing a good job even if my job is menial. But I was already annoyed because at a minute to close I had to wait on a lady who forgot she needed a load of bread and had to run back and get it. Then I got assigned the extra chores so I decided to phone it in. So maybe I feel a little bad about slacking off but hey if these kids get to get out of chores and get to call off every Friday night or never be available then I get to take it easy every so often too. Wait till I tell my boss I will no longer be available Friday nights! 🤣

 

It's much better (IMO) that you feel this way now rather than regretting a bunch of stuff like it years later (like I do).

[Cloud9Shopper]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

It's much better (IMO) that you feel this way now rather than regretting a bunch of stuff like it years later (like I do).

Oh believe me, I have enough other regrets otherwise. Like getting into credit card debt instead of using cards responsibly and living within my means, not focused on wanting a lifestyle I couldn’t afford because I compared myself to others. Or making mistakes early in my career that mean I’m just getting started at almost age 40 while my peers are largely far ahead of me by now. Or majoring in communications or any other number of things I could point to that are worse mistakes than taking a grocery store job for extra money. 

I feel a little better this morning, but I think I’m just getting to a point in my life where I no longer care to deal with the lazy attitudes and poor work ethic teenagers have. I mean, I’m not the manager so I don’t have to directly deal with it, but I have to indirectly when they call in constantly (we have had multiple call offs nearly every Friday for the last several weeks) and now we all have to do more work to make up for it. Or hear them complain how they don’t want to put their register light on because they would, shock, have to wait on customers! I can’t tell them how many times I’ve come on for a shift and had customers walk over to me as soon as they see me show up with a drawer. I can’t even put it away before they are right there. Most of my customers are great, but yes you do have to do your job and not leave another cashier to get backed up while you just stand around bagging. So yeah I am officially one of those people complaining about “kids these days.” 🤣

Edited October 23 by Cloud9Shopper

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Oh believe me, I have enough other regrets otherwise. Like getting into credit card debt instead of using cards responsibly and living within my means, not focused on wanting a lifestyle I couldn’t afford because I compared myself to others. Or making mistakes early in my career that mean I’m just getting started at almost age 40 while my peers are largely far ahead of me by now. Or majoring in communications or any other number of things I could point to that are worse mistakes than taking a grocery store job for extra money. 

I feel a little better this morning, but I think I’m just getting to a point in my life where I no longer care to deal with the lazy attitudes and poor work ethic teenagers have. I mean, I’m not the manager so I don’t have to directly deal with it, but I have to indirectly when they call in constantly (we have had multiple call offs nearly every Friday for the last several weeks) and now we all have to do more work to make up for it. Or hear them complain how they don’t want to put their register light on because they would, shock, have to wait on customers! I can’t tell them how many times I’ve come on for a shift and had customers walk over to me as soon as they see me show up with a drawer. I can’t even put it away before they are right there. Most of my customers are great, but yes you do have to do your job and not leave another cashier to get backed up while you just stand around bagging. So yeah I am officially one of those people complaining about “kids these days.” 🤣

I hear you. You don't even have to be that old today to complain about "kids these days". When I was their age we were so different. When I worked at Burger King in 1977 we all wanted to be as responsible and helpful of customers as we could - it was just a societal value then. If we slacked off we had judgment from our workmates and our bosses pushed us and that kept people in check. But most if not all of us wanted to be the employee of the year anyway and that meant putting everything into our jobs. I would not be able to handle being in your situation in that store at my age. I would have to quit or I would end up being that "old lady without a filter" and give those kids a piece of my mind (and probably lose my job). I would not take well to constantly having to pull up their slack and feeling like they were taking advantage of me. I hope you can find another situation that will make it possible for you to leave there.

[Cloud9Shopper]

Well I did manage to pay off one debt this month and will be getting rid of another one soon enough. That won’t fix all my problems but it will give me some breathing room to eventually think about leaving. The other people I work with who actually show up to their shifts are getting tired of it too, so I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. One of the girls who has to take the calls from high school kids when they call out even said she is fed up because her and her brother (he also works at the store) who are both in college actually do go to work since they still live with their parents and their parents wouldn’t tolerate that from them. Neither would mine when I was that age and I wasn’t perfect in other ways. 

I’m not sure why these kids’ parents let them behave like this and teach them it’s OK to just not care and break commitments, or it’s acceptable if they agree to take a job and just not show up like they said they would. Because this entitlement is coming from somewhere. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

Just yesterday we had lunch at Smashburger.  The kid taking our order was probably around 20, I'd guess.  He was irritated but calm when trying to get the register to take my phone number so I could use my Smash Club points for a free drink, and he eventually got it figured out.  Good service.

As we were eating our burgers, I said, "This is a particularly good one" and Mr. Outlier said, "Mine too!"  So when we were leaving, the kid from the register happened to be at the drink machine, and I said, "That was fantastic.  My compliments to the chef."  Ha ha--we're at Smashburger.  But he said, "The chef's my brother!  I'll tell him." 

So I told him he was very good at the register, that I didn't want to start some big sibling rivalry.  And then I added, "I guess I should be thanking your parents, because they're obviously doing something right."

When I got home I filled out the online survey, so the higher-ups will know they've got some good employees.  I used to praise a girl named Clarissa in my online surveys, and noticed that she hasn't been there for the past few weeks; I like to think she's now in upper management, because of me.  😀

[Anduin]

I went looking for jeans at K mart today. I failed. They have plenty of skinny jeans, just no regular ones. I don't have the shape for skinny. Target is out too. If I have no luck at Big W, I might have to go for some nicer. Yes, I want cheap everyday ones. Be nice to afford a dozen pairs of top end ones, but I don't have the budget.

Also, I noticed the ugly christmas jumper phenomena has spread to Australia. In this weather? It's going to be 37 next week. That's nearly 100 F. We're coming up on summer! Okay, they weren't the heaviest. But they weren't just long sleeve t shirts either. You'd have to be insane, extremely resistant to heat, or willing to spend a lot of money on aircon. And indeed prepared to wear something that just makes you look stupid. I don't see the appeal.

[shapeshifter]

29 minutes ago, Anduin said:

I went looking for jeans at K mart today. I failed. They have plenty of skinny jeans, just no regular ones. I don't have the shape for skinny. Target is out too. If I have no luck at Big W, I might have to go for some nicer. Yes, I want cheap everyday ones. Be nice to afford a dozen pairs of top end ones, but I don't have the budget.

Do you have stores like Kohls, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or outlet stores or other big box stores like Walmart? 
I also used to shop in some of the nicer, but still not high-end, stores like Macy's or Marshall Fields, and head to their sale racks, especially at the end of a season to get something I might not really wear for another 6 months when the weather changed.

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Do you have stores like Kohls, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or outlet stores or other big box stores like Walmart? 
I also used to shop in some of the nicer, but still not high-end, stores like Macy's or Marshall Fields, and head to their sale racks, especially at the end of a season to get something I might not really wear for another 6 months when the weather changed.

Nope. There's K mart, Target, Big W. Above those, Myer and David Jones. Then the specialty clothing places. I may even have to enter a menswear shop for the first time in many years. :(

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Anduin said:

Above those, Myer and David Jones.

Wow. 🤑💸

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Wow. 🤑💸

As in, they're mostly designer type labels. Not hugely fancy, but enough to put a higher price tag on them.

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, Anduin said:

Nope. There's K mart, Target, Big W. Above those, Myer and David Jones. Then the specialty clothing places. I may even have to enter a menswear shop for the first time in many years. :(

Sorry to hear that. Although I actually miss K Mart. All of ours in the States closed a couple of years ago. You sound like me that you prefer to try things on before buying them. I hate buying clothing online, even brands I buy often, because sizing is not consistent even within a brand or style. I spend more time returning things when I buy online than just going to the store and trying things on. And it's often very disappointing too. Even today I have to go to Kohl's with a return. PJs I bought last year in the same brand, size and style don't fit, and I even bought 2 sizes just in case. Very disappointing and I got a GREAT deal on them, too. Even worse is that I can't just go to a store and try them on because they don't have petite sized PJs in the store. This is often the case with petite clothing these days.

[EtheltoTillie]

3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Sorry to hear that. Although I actually miss K Mart. All of ours in the States closed a couple of years ago. You sound like me that you prefer to try things on before buying them. I hate buying clothing online, even brands I buy often, because sizing is not consistent even within a brand or style. I spend more time returning things when I buy online than just going to the store and trying things on. And it's often very disappointing too. Even today I have to go to Kohl's with a return. PJs I bought last year in the same brand, size and style don't fit, and I even bought 2 sizes just in case. Very disappointing and I got a GREAT deal on them, too. Even worse is that I can't just go to a store and try them on because they don't have petite sized PJs in the store. This is often the case with petite clothing these days.

YeahNo, did you miss the story about the last Kmart closing in Bridgehampton?  It made national news (last week).  I actually would go there from time to time.   The store had become pretty depressing. 

Edited October 24 by EtheltoTillie

[PRgal]

Kmart left Canada in the late 90s.  There was a mall near where I grew up that had one and I remember getting clothes there when I was a kid.  That mall was pretty middle of the road back then but since 2000 or so, it's been getting higher and higher end.  It never had many chain stores (and still doesn't, save for a supermarket, Sephora, Banana Republic and a few locals).  I think there's only one store (okay, hair salon) that was there when I was little (and where I had my first professional haircut) that still exists!!  

[ECM1231]

Changing topic...

I have 2 beige, chenille cotton bath rugs from Kohl's in my en suite bathroom. I wash them in the washing machine and let them dry on the line in my basement. When dry, they get very fluffy but after a while they get pretty flat. Mr. ECM would prefer that I not wash them in our washing machine, as it's a newer one, and feels it's not good to wash in an unbalanced load, b/c there is lots of banging going on. However, I do try to balance the load by putting in towels or other items to wash. He says he will wash outside with the hose. I don't see how that would work in the cold of winter.

My question to all of you is this: How often do you wash your bath rugs? I'm really not that fastidious of a person, but I tend to wash them fairly often. 

[PRgal]

24 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

Changing topic...

I have 2 beige, chenille cotton bath rugs from Kohl's in my en suite bathroom. I wash them in the washing machine and let them dry on the line in my basement. When dry, they get very fluffy but after a while they get pretty flat. Mr. ECM would prefer that I not wash them in our washing machine, as it's a newer one, and feels it's not good to wash in an unbalanced load, b/c there is lots of banging going on. However, I do try to balance the load by putting in towels or other items to wash. He says he will wash outside with the hose. I don't see how that would work in the cold of winter.

My question to all of you is this: How often do you wash your bath rugs? I'm really not that fastidious of a person, but I tend to wash them fairly often. 

Is there a small load setting on your machine?

[Dimity]

39 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

My question to all of you is this: How often do you wash your bath rugs? I'm really not that fastidious of a person, but I tend to wash them fairly often. 

Now that it's just my husband and I at home most of the time, I admit I am not as good about this as I once was.  I'd love to say weekly but it's probably more like monthly (at most) unless someone drops something on it. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I change the bath mat once a week.  I have four of them so there's always a clean one available.  I wash them with towels.  I dry them in the dryer. 

I understand about the unbalanced load, so that's why I have several mats so I will always have a clean one available if I haven't washed the last one yet (with enough towels to make up a load).

Washing the mats outside with the hose sounds like a terrible idea IMO. 

[isalicat]

On 10/21/2024 at 7:57 PM, Is Everyone Gone said:

Ok so ... do you think my friend is racist?

Here goes the convo. We were talking about NBA players and the new season. I asked him who he liked to watch. He said "the European players."

I was like "Oh, like Giannis and Wemby right?"

And he was like "No they aren't European. I'm talking Jokic, Luka."

I've not seen any signs of racism from this guy, ever. He works in a very rough school with majority black kids, and he's a compassionate, kind teacher to them. He's also a racial minority himself.

But that comment shocked me.

I might have probed a little further, as in: "Is it a particular style of play you are calling "European"? (Because Luka, for example, does play significantly differently than Giannis....but part of that is a difference in sheer size.) It really doesn't sound like racism on the surface, because if you were truly racist IMO you probably won't like watching the NBA at all. (I specialize in trying to give other people the benefit of the doubt...)

[ECM1231]

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

Is there a small load setting on your machine?

Yes

[ECM1231]

47 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I change the bath mat once a week.  I have four of them so there's always a clean one available.  I wash them with towels.  I dry them in the dryer. 

I understand about the unbalanced load, so that's why I have several mats so I will always have a clean one available if I haven't washed the last one yet (with enough towels to make up a load).

Washing the mats outside with the hose sounds like a terrible idea IMO. 

So, we have 3 full bathrooms in the house.  I do have 2 sets of bath rugs for the 1st floor bath, so I can switch out weekly or every other week. Our own primary bath, I just have one set and the rugs there are larger than those in the downstairs bath. The 3rd bath upstairs isn't used unless my son and his family come to visit, in which case they stay several days. I tend not to wash those very often.

I just tend to disregard what the hubs says, but he gets pretty cross about washing the rugs in the machine. He's adamant that it shouldn't be done, even though the directions say that they can be machine washed. Plus, the 1st floor bath rugs are a very light beige and tend to show dirt more often. I don't wear shoes in the house, but the hubs refuses to take off his shoes. He's in and out all day, working in the yard or in the garage and his big, mamaluke shoes track dirt inside. OY!

[EtheltoTillie]

3 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

So, we have 3 full bathrooms in the house.  I do have 2 sets of bath rugs for the 1st floor bath, so I can switch out weekly or every other week. Our own primary bath, I just have one set and the rugs there are larger than those in the downstairs bath. The 3rd bath upstairs isn't used unless my son and his family come to visit, in which case they stay several days. I tend not to wash those very often.

I just tend to disregard what the hubs says, but he gets pretty cross about washing the rugs in the machine. He's adamant that it shouldn't be done, even though the directions say that they can be machine washed. Plus, the 1st floor bath rugs are a very light beige and tend to show dirt more often. I don't wear shoes in the house, but the hubs refuses to take off his shoes. He's in and out all day, working in the yard or in the garage and his big, mamaluke shoes track dirt inside. OY!

Well, hubs is wrong LOL.  And if he's tracking dirt on some of the rugs, then they will need more frequent washing. 

[chitowngirl]

Hubs is free to take the mats to the laundromat…and to be put on floor cleaning duty since he’s the one tracking in the “stuff”. 😁

[Bastet]

19 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

And if he's tracking dirt on some of the rugs, then they will need more frequent washing. 

By him.

[EtheltoTillie]

1 minute ago, Bastet said:

By him.

Yeah, but he wants to wash them outside with the hose!

[Dimity]

Just now, EtheltoTillie said:

Yeah, but he wants to wash them outside with the hose!

I'd be surprised he he did this more than once, least of all repeatedly through the winter. 

[SoMuchTV]

1 hour ago, ECM1231 said:

Plus, the 1st floor bath rugs are a very light beige and tend to show dirt more often. I don't wear shoes in the house, but the hubs refuses to take off his shoes. He's in and out all day, working in the yard or in the garage and his big, mamaluke shoes track dirt inside. OY!

Sounds like you need to invest in some hose-downable mats for your exterior doors, to minimize the gunk that makes it into the house and to the bathrooms. 

But regarding your original question, I occasionally run my bathmats through the washer with everything else, and my washer is doing fine. I do air dry them since they have some borders that seem to shrink up disproportionately in the dryer, but that’s a me issue. 

[ECM1231]

Thanks everyone for weighing in. I'll continue washing them in the machine and let hubby huff and puff. 😉