Dishwasher Mystery

Two broadcast personalities (one female, one male) from an early morning show commented this week on what they thought the worst daily/weekly household chore was, and to my surprise, they selected number two on my list – unloading the dishwasher.  Even more of a surprise, unloading the dishwasher topped the survey list shared on air by their colleague.

What is it about unloading the dishwasher that makes so many folks cringe?  There doesn’t seem to be a logical explanation.   Even people I’ve asked can’t explain why they, too, dislike unloading the dishwasher so much. 

 Is it that folks are allergic to cleanliness? Do we secretly wish we were still kids playing in the garden dirt?  Are we, instead, afraid if we are too clean, we will have to work hard to keep up the perfection? 

 I willingly load my dishwasher, as I’m sure many of you do.  I will spend several days after running it, however, ignoring the fact the clean silver and dishes cry each time I pass by to be let out.  They beg me to unload them and put them back in their rightful places, and I ignore their pleas as long as I can.  I brazenly strut past them and sashay around the kitchen.  

I admit I even take clean silverware and glasses from the dishwasher to use, rather than just spending time to unload my lovely built-in model.  Maybe I think if I keep raiding the clean load, the unloading problem will disappear as there will be nothing left to unload.  The problem with this thinking, however, is that dirty dishes and glasses pile up in the meantime – the dirty ones have nowhere to go.  I can’t put the dirty things directly in the dishwasher and get them out of my sink or off my counter if the dishwasher is still waiting to be unloaded.

Time is not the problem.  It doesn’t take much time to unload the dishwasher or to put away the clean items.  I can probably unload mine in five minutes.  Dusting takes much longer, as does vacuuming, folding laundry, and other chores, yet many of us choose unloading the dishwasher as our least favorite chore.  Heck, I’d rather clean the toilet than unload the dishwasher and put away all the cleaned items.

Perhaps some people who think the clean items are out of sight (in the dishwasher) and therefore, out of mind, live in a fantasy world, fooling only themselves.  So what are these folks doing with the dirty dishes?  Hiding them inside the oven?  Don’t they realize someone may decide to preheat the oven before baking, and all their lovely dishes will melt, making a giant mess?  It’s happened to someone I know quite well with the initials C.S., so don’t attempt this disguise at home (even when you have unexpected company arriving).  Unload the dishwasher in a timely fashion, please.  You’ll be much happier if you do.