Michael Kelly does without . . . the dishwasher
Last Sunday we had some family members over for brunch. Afterwards I filled the dishwasher with greasy plates, knives and forks, mugs and glasses, the grill from the barbecue and various other bits and pieces. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be doing without the dishwasher, so I had to take them all out again and start scrubbing.
When you load a dishwasher, even though it is quick and painless, you are essentially postponing half the job (emptying the dishwasher and putting everything away) for another time. When you wash and dry things by hand, you are completing the entire job there and then.
In our house, we don't have the option of letting things drip-dry as we have a wooden counter top which tends to stain if you leave it wet for too long, so you really have to go the whole hog and dry up as well as wash. It is undoubtedly a pain in the neck, but it is satisfying when you're (finally) done.
It makes me think back on an experience from my youth (I think I was about 12). I was over at a friend's house (hello the Fureys) and we were clearing up after dinner. My friend and I were drying and his older brother, who we thought was incredibly cool, was washing. He took one of the plates I had dried up and said, "Do they not dry plates in the Kelly household?" and handed me back the plate for a proper drying. I was mortified.
Washing and drying dishes by hand is sort of a forgotten skill now. When I was young, we used to dry two plates at a time, stacked on top of each other. You would dry the top of the first plate and the bottom of the second, then swap them around and do the same again. It felt like you were powering through the job. It also probably explains why the quality of drying was so dodgy. I found myself doing that again this week, hoping Mrs Kelly wouldn't catch me out like my friend's brother did.
I was fairly annoyed to discover that this week's task was bad for the environment. Dishwashers use less water and energy than washing by hand (to make matters worse, I was putting about five tea-towels a day in the washing machine). Never mind, it was a victory for the soul. Mrs Kelly and I chatted amiably as I washed and she dried after dinner. You wouldn't do that beside the dishwasher - well you might, but it would be plain weird.