By By CHRIST PROKOS
Staff Writer
Follow Harold Robinson around Washington on a Monday morning, and it’s hard to discern who has the better deal: Robinson, or the people he serves.
One thing is for sure, as Robinson voluntarily delivers dry-cleaning to Roberson’s Cleaners customers in Washington, he collects from everyone, no exceptions. His unspoken fee? Hugs.
“We all try to get our hugs in,” said Missy Woolard at one doctor’s office. “He will sit and talk to us, he always has a smile on his face and brightens our day.”
“It is service with a smile,” said long-time customer Jane McCotter. “I think service is one thing. Service with a smile is something you really don’t see that much anymore. Harold brings a little bit of sunshine in your house when he comes. He’s always been that way. Mondays aren’t always the best days. He always has a smile on his face and always has something nice to say.”
Robinson, 85, started picking up and delivering laundry when he and his wife, Dot, took over Roberson’s Cleaners from his uncle in the 1960s. He continued the free service even after selling the business in 1986.
“Some of my customers were old and couldn’t drive,” Robinson said while driving his delivery route Monday. “They were good to me when I needed it. Most of them are gone now, but I deliver to their children. I am starting to work on a third generation now.”
“When I sold the business, I told them, ‘If you buy the gas and furnish me a vehicle, I’ll keep on picking up and delivering,’” he said.
McCotter has been on Robinson’s route since the early 1970s. Over the years, their relationship has evolved.
“Sometimes he would stay an hour and play with her (McCotter’s daughter Sally),” McCotter said. “He would come in and visit, and she would climb all over him, up and down and all around. That’s just who he is.”
“He came to Sally’s wedding. He was right there sitting down front. We’ve been through a lot of stuff together. Both of my children grew up with Harold. He’s like part of the family,” she said.
The bond that “Mr. Harold” has developed with his customers is what keeps him on his appointed rounds.
“All my customers are good people,” Robinson said. “I wouldn’t pick up their clothes if they weren’t. I love all of my customers and would do anything I could for them.”
“People don’t get dry cleaning like they used to,” Robinson added. “They get polyester and all that stuff. It ain’t like it used to be. Everything has changed. Everything is automatic. You drive in to wash your car now. But people haven’t changed. There are still a lot of good people.”
Robinson is aware of his advanced years and the thought of retiring has not eluded him.
“I’m 85, and I’ll be 86 in December. I’ll be old then,” Robinson confessed. “The hardest part is getting up in the morning when you don’t have to. Every so often, I think about (retirement) but it’s a habit, is what it is, like smoking a cigarette. I would miss it — the people to talk to, getting my hugs and everything.”