I was chatting to our friends at the weekend about the bungalow we are moving to and mentioned that we would need to buy a dishwasher as we are leaving our old one behind.
One of our friends was horrified - "But there's only two of you! You don't need a dishwasher!"
I suppose it does seem like an extravagance to some, however, I have been fortunate to have had the use of a dishwasher since P and I first moved in together, back in the early 1980s and do not enjoy washing up by hand on the odd occasion that we are on holiday in self catering accommodation.
It may stem from my childhood perhaps. My mother was not exactly keen on domesticity and so, from a very early age, my sister and I were made to do the washing up every day for our family of five (as well as taking the family washing to the launderette and doing the ironing). I really hated it. One evening we rebelled. Mum and Dad had gone out to visit friends and my sister and I went up to bed without having done the washing up. When Mum came home and saw all the dirty dishes, she scooped them all into the plastic washing up bowl, opened the back door and flung the whole lot out into the garden, shouting and swearing all the time. My little brother was terrified and crept downstairs to try to retrieve everything and bring it back indoors but Mum sent him back to bed with a flea in his ear. We didn't rebel again after that episode.
I still hate washing up to this day.
You certainly have good reason to hate dishwashing (clearly, your mother felt-very dramatically--the same way). I'm with you on having a dishwasher. Last year (due to supply issues), we had to wait more than four months for a new dishwasher when ours broke. Never was an appliance greeted with greater pleasure than when the new one finally showed up. :)
ReplyDeleteI was conditioned to hate washing dishes :)
DeleteIf you hate washing dishes that seems as good a reason as any to have one. Most things we own we don't 'need' - that's not the criteria we should use unless we want to get rid of every modern appliance and more.
ReplyDeleteScrub our clothes in the stream, sweep the floors with a brush, wear unironed clothes... oh wait, I do that last one...
DeleteLol I’d been married a few years so didn’t see it but according to my sisters our mother did the very same thing. Came home from a night out with dad, a few drinks were involved - they’d gone out just after dinner and expecting those at home to do the dishes. A bit of Irish temper was displayed- up went the kitchen window out went the dishes. The kitchen was on the first floor….not street/garden level…..so there weren’t many plates available for the usual cooked Sunday breakfast!
ReplyDeleteHa! Yes my mum had a fiery temper too.
DeleteWhat a rotten experience! F on the other hand got to do the washing up (or drying) with her Dad most evenings and it regarded it as valuable personal conversation time - and has kept washing up by hand ever since; a time to take stock of the day.
ReplyDeleteOh, that sounds better than my experience. Lucky Lady F x
DeleteThere's only one of me and I have always had a dishwasher. I bought one with my first bonus payment back in 1986. I hate washing up and the dishwasher is my most important thing in the house. I had bad experiences with washing up with my mother too, so horrific that I hardly care to remember them but suffice it to say it was always my fault and she would humiliate me in front of people. xxxx
ReplyDeleteOh Rachel. I do understand. My mum was quite adept at humiliation too. XX
DeleteOf course you need a dishwasher. Don't listen to any ignoramus-dishwasher-upper. There are only two of us too and ours is an essential everyday appliance.
ReplyDeleteGet one now. For your sanity and quality of life.
Thanks Doctor Linda 😁 I shall order one right now!
DeleteMy dishwasher is the last thing I would get rid of and there is only one of me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I feel vindicated.
DeleteOur 15 year old dishwasher broke just at the beginning of first lockdown and dishwashers were pretty hard to get then for a while - it would appear everyone decided they needed one for lockdown! I'd love to get another one but hubby quite likes washing dishes so we haven't replaced it (yet!) I think if you want a dishwasher you should get one, it certainly sounds like you have good reason to have one!! x
ReplyDeleteWell, I hope your hubby does both washing and drying then!
DeleteYou don't need a vacuum cleaners or hair dryers either JayCee. I would vote for any political party that said they would ban them.😊
ReplyDeleteNoooo! Both are essential for any modern female Dave. We are not living in the Dark Ages now you know :)
DeleteYou'll get my hair dryer when you pry it from my cold dead fingers, Northsider.
DeleteI am with Caveman Northsider. Make the vacuum cleaner and the hair dryer operate silently or ban them all!
DeleteI live alone. I have a dishwasher. I always have had for as long as I can remember. If you want a dishwasher you don't have to justify it to anyone!
ReplyDeleteYou are right Graham. I am going to have one!
DeleteI am the dishwasher.
ReplyDeleteAre you the slimline version?
DeleteThis is the first house in which I have lived that has a dishwasher. I use it three times a year - Christmas dinner, Easter dinner and Canada Day dinner at which I host the family. Between those times it acts as a draining board for my hand washed dishes. It is over 25 years old and I am always on tenterhooks before turning it on. Did I say I live alone?
ReplyDeleteI use mine all the time. It is generally a full load after two days so it gets used 3 or 4 times a week.
DeleteMy husband insisted on a dishwasher and I was never keen on one. I quite like washing by hand. But after he died and the dishwasher needed replacing I bought another! I have been converted. Although I still like to wash by hand sometimes. I can understand completely why you might have an aversion to it though.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can have nice soft hands with no harsh detergent suds!
DeleteWe are two in my house, too, and I am glad to have a dishwasher. We don't run it very often and wait until it is completely packed before we turn it on so I think we get good use out of it.
ReplyDeleteSame here Ellen.
DeleteI think I have got a solution to your dilemma. Buy Lord Peregrine a T-shirt with "Bosch" printed on the front of it and make him your human dishwasher. He can do that job while you are watching "Emmerdale".
ReplyDeleteI don't watch Emmerdale. It's full of strange northern folk.
DeleteGrrrrrrr!
DeleteWe do have a washing-up machine, but I can't use it; even my wife occasionally shouts at it because it refuses to perform correctly. I much prefer doing it by hand.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be a male thing.
DeleteI'm male! I'm not alone in advocating machines for doing jobs. I'd like to se the man whose prepared to wash the clothes by hand.
DeleteMost of the comments advocating washing up by hand seemed to be from males, Graham. I am pleased that you are on the the same wavelength as the more intelligent of the species!
DeleteToday at age 66 my first ever dish washer is arriving. The people who lived here took theirs with them so there is a space. I don't mind washing up by hand when it's just me but now I'm alone washing up after visitors feels like a chore.
ReplyDeleteI will have to learn how to use it - that's the worst bit
They are generally very easy. Pop in a tablet, choose the setting and bingo! Feet up with a cuppa. The only downside is unloading it afterwards.
DeleteThere are only 2 of us but the dishwasher is essential. I have it going about every day and a half. It means I can instantly clear the kitchen after a meal as well as having much cleaner crocks than could be done by hand! Small pans, bowls and dog dishes go in as well.
ReplyDeleteYep. Me too Frances.
DeleteI couldn't bring myself to buy a dishwasher. I hate washing up so I rinse things off as as soon as I have finished with them so they don't accumulate on the worktop. Except for last night. I left the soup bowl in the sink to soak, this morning I had to rinse it because I only have one bowl to use in the microwave. I wanted porridge for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteI suppose if I lived alone I would use it less. Just depends on what I cook and how messy it is.
DeleteGosh! No wonder you like a dishwasher! I've had two but we didn't use them enough to warrant having them. They only got used on a Sunday after dinner and on the odd occasion. When I got my new kitchen I used the space for storage rather than a dishwasher...
ReplyDeletexxx
Mine gets a lot of use. I definitely need to get one x
DeleteWell.. I love washing up!
ReplyDelete