As I was reminded by this lovely lady, just because I have a few days off doesn't mean I get to neglect blogging duties. Because duty! Must come before all!Anyway, the point is, I'm a man that does the dishes. I'll try to keep this succinct. I do the dishes, every night, because of the following:
- Domestic relations. B does all kinds of stuff, like dusting, that I don't want to do. One way I hold up my end of the 50/50 distribution of labor in our marriage is that I do the dishes whether or not I also cooked.
- Fond memories. The best, happiest job I ever had was my year as a pearl diver at a now-defunct bistro in Eugene. One free tasty meal per shift, a cut of the tips (usually about 3 bucks a day), tons of hot punk girl co-workers to ogle, control of the CD player in the dish pit, across the street from my favorite bar...good times. B and I started dating when I had worked there for four or five months and I would bike over to her apartment after my shift with day-old pastries for her.
- It's nice. It calms me down. I'm an anxious guy.
- Our apartment is so tiny that if I don't do the dishes, there's nowhere for them to go.
- It's actually really fun to put on headphones and listen to good, aggressive music (allow me to suggest Grinderman) and do dishes. Drunk.
- First and foremost, the Dishwasher Zine. I used to read it all the time when I was in high school. Dishwasher Pete, the man who roamed the 50 states knee-deep in suds, will always be to me more punk rock than Sid Vicious. The whole point of punk is the rejection, even inversion, of mainstream indexes of success and failure (see: people who can't play instruments in bands, the glorification of dying young, hating the rich, etc.) Dishwasher Pete was the avatar of punk, devoting his entire life to staying at the bottom of the totem pole in the food service industry, itself the bottom of the totem pole in the economy.
- The Pulp song "Dishes" off of This Is Hardcore.
- The Queers song "Born to Do Dishes" (itself written for a musical tribute album for the Dishwasher Zine.)
- The term "dish dog."
7 comments:
Holy crap! The other night, while I was doing the dishes, I realized that I had finally grown up and out of my hate for the chore. When I was a kid, there was nothing I hated more than doing the dishes. But now, washing my own dishes in my own house is as you said, relaxing and calming. Our new place doesnt have a dishwasher, so I actually get to take the time to meditate and reflect while elbow deep in suds.
Your suggestion of headphones and intoxication are genius! I cant WAIT to try them!
Totally! It takes the experience to the next level, believe you me.
It's interesting that you bring this up. I'll have to add my two cents. I prefer doing dishes (to other daily chores) because it provides an escape from my day's work. But also because it gives me a sense of completion that I can't get from any of the other things I do regularly.
I have much love for you and the many times you saved me from my crippling inability to face my dishes one they had started stinking.
s-a-v-e-d m-y l-i-f-e
Ah yes... doing the dishes while listening to music is one of my favorite ways to wind down at night. Some people watch TV or a movie, other people read... I like to do the dishes to music, occasionally read a magazine or something that doesn't make me think at all, put on some meditation music, then lay on my bed (couch works too), close my eyes, and do absolutely positively nothing.
As your successor at the French Horn, I agree, it was one of the best jobs ever. I miss it sometimes, but man do I not miss the crazy dish rot I got cause they were to cheap to buy us gloves..
Post a Comment