Home Dishwashing: Etiquette to Take With You Anywhere
Do you as a host/ess anticipate your guests to help clean up?
Eating For Joy, Dishwashing for Thanks
Had a good meal at your place lately? Did you eat alone?
How about shared a meal with a few people at your home or somebody's house? How did it end? Not the eating --- the cleaning up after. Or rather did you even clean up right after?
Had been invited to a humble house lately? Rate yourself as a guest.
When you live on your own, your housekeeping takes a bow to your moods. After eating, your sink may be loaded with dirty dishes for a few minutes or even a few hours. Some would opt to clean up the sink before sleeping, or maybe take time in the morning, or wash only during the weekends, or wait till you have a guest before you spiffy up the sink, or maybe your roommate cannot handle seeing the mess, so would take it upon oneself to clean up after you???
It is an abomination when people living with other people inconsiderately load up the small sink with dirty dishes for hours or even days. How one family member or roommate handle this should be straightforward rebuke. Maybe it will work. If it does not, do not invite the person in your home; give the person disposables or make sure when they are done eating to show them the trash can.
Is this behavior trained or a regression of irresponsible upbringing? I have never really lived with anyone who left their dishes for days in the shared sink until recently. The sight is abhorrent and yet, it is a touchy situation when the person is sensitive about this daily habit.
My friend's stepson who was left for two weeks to care for three dogs and the house, greeted my friend and her husband with several pile of dirty dishes around the house. Talk about mice infestation after that. I am sure in some household, the cockroaches would be having a raving party. It is doubtless that certain people have the prerogative to consider washing their own dishes a chore not worthy of their priority. Gee, the starving people of Africa may not hesitate to wash those dishes as long they have eaten a meal.
My father used to berate as with "Should we have the dogs and cats clean the dishes for you.?" Us, children would scamper to the kitchen immediately.
How would you handle a daily situation like this?
Do you consider washing your dishes a painful chore?
As Guests of Ordinary Real People
OFFER to help out with the chores. It can facilitate bonding.
If you are staying more than one night especially, DON'T BE A BURDEN. Clean after yourself. See those coffee splatters on the counter that you just made? Don't wait for the host/ess to clean it up. Show that you may be a klutz but not a slob.
Guests who overstay and do not do their share of dishwashing or cleaning after, are subject to an all-in-favor 'do not invite again guest.'
Look, people MUST have the decency to contribute to the task even though your host/ess keep blurting out "do not worry about that, you are a guest." It is just polite on the part of the host/ess, but host/ess(es) maybe hoping that you would not take that saying to heart. If they have done everything from scratch, there is a monumental task ahead that that host/ess(es) is anxiously anticipating.
As Guests of the Upper Ten Percent?
If you are one of the ordinary paycheck to paycheck folks, don't worry, you won't be invited to the houses of these ultra-rich host/ess(es). You do not have the 'dinero.'
If you happen to be invited, then you must be one of the 'help.'
So, super rich people have the money to buy 'help' and are not required to offer dishwashing duities. Boy, that would be demeaning to their status!
Proper Home Dishwashing
Blessed with the modern dishwashing machine convenience? Simply rinse off excess gunk from your plate and load in the diswashing machine. How hard could that be????
Some people find that a chore, too. It is beyond irritating to share a kitchen with these inconsiderate slobs. There is a saying that goes "small things can kill you." This disgusting habit can wreck any situation.
Still hankering for a dishwashing machine? The more keeping up with conscientiousness is paramount. People have varying methods of making this chore faster, or faster and effective. What works for you is your choice, it is your home after all.
In a normal household of two-compartment sink:
1. Load hot water in one sink. Add your favorite dishwashing liquid. That sink does not need a ton of detergent.
2. Load hot water in the other sink for rinsing. Can put a small amount of sanitizer.
2. Scrape off excess gunk from dishes into the garbage can or disposal. Put into the soapy water and scrub with sponge to thoroughly clean the dishes.
3. Rinse into the other hot water and check to assure yourself of the absence of soap, suds and dirt. You always have a choice to second rinse your dishes.
4. Set upright to drip in your dishrack.
5. Use a clean no-lint cloth towel to wipe the plates and silverwares.
6. Glasses are best air-dried.
7. Put away each towel-dried item.
Sounds like a chore. But the more you program yourself to do this habit, the easier it becomes.
I guess much like the slobs who had programmed themselves to ignore their dirty dishes, the easier it was for them to ignore this necessity.
The above procedure is NOT a regimented washing method of course. Everybody has their own way of doing things. The main purpose to keep in mind is, have a great meal and a clean kitchen to keep the bugs away. Bon Appetit.
