That Pink Smiley Face Found in the Washer
May 30, 2025
Source: Reddit
I’m lifting laundry out of the washer — socks, damp jeans, a hoodie, maybe some towels — when I see this weird little pink thing in the drum. Tiny. Round. Rubber-like. And grinning at me. An embossed smiley face, right there.
My first thought? What kind of party did my washing machine have without me?
I’ve put lots of items through a spin cycle: ChapStick, receipts, a rogue sock. But this? It looked like candy. Or worse—some kind of pill.
No odor. Didn’t dissolve under water. Just a smug little face.
The Internet Rabbit Hole
I began Googling things like “tiny pink smiley face pill” and “plastic smile face disc.” For a moment, I wondered if it was ecstasy. I showed a friend. Raised eyebrows. Silent judgment.
Then I found it. A photograph of stamp markers for kids. There it was — the same pink smiley face stamp tip I had discovered. One of those chunky white markers with tips shaped like various things — ladybugs, hearts, stars. No kid’s craft set was without these.
Straight Back to the ‘90s
I was suddenly cross-legged on the carpet, imitating stamping pink faces on scraps of paper, and likely to be all sticky and glittery. Those markers got used up quickly, tips and all, and we still loved them. Overstuffing them into the paper was part of the fun.
Half of those paddle tips vanished for good. Under beds. In vents. Perhaps even in washing machines.
The Random Stuff That Hits You
Seeing that stamp tip just jerked me back into a memory. Not dramatic, not life-altering — just real. A silent signal of a time when free time was for crafts, not calendars.
We forget how little things like a stamp, or a marker that was fresh, brought us joy. And that little pink smiley face brought it all back.
I Kept It
It’s sitting on my desk now. Still grinning, still pink, still weird.
Not just a pink smiley face stamp tip. It’s a reminder. That ever once, life was stickers and construction paper and glitter glue. And that’s something worth holding onto.