Dishwasher

Our dishwasher sensed a leak and shut itself down.

The machine’s response to this event is in itself interesting and prompts several questions, including: how did the dishwasher sense the leak? How is it that the sensor was in the right place to sense the leak?

Yet, selfishly, the more immediate problem is that we are without a dishwasher, and due to supply chain issues, it may be for some time.

We now wash our dishes by hand.

It’s not that we never wash anything by hand; we have old china and some utensils that are not dishwasher safe, but we use them infrequently. Yet, now that we have to wash everything by hand, we have been using our china more often, as it makes no difference whether we use dishwasher-safe dishes or not. However, using our china has added a little bit of spark to our meals, which has been uplifting.

Washing dishes by hand reminded me of my childhood, when we would all help with the chore. Often, my mother would wash, and my brother and I would dry and put away the dishes. I don’t think I enjoyed it at the time, but looking back through a lens of nostalgia, I can’t help but think it was something that we did together, and that gave us some responsibility. It makes me think more broadly about the role of work, not only as a means of completing a task, but bringing people together and organizing themselves towards a common cause.

Often we would focus on getting the job done as quickly as possible, but at other times, we would talk. We might simply chatter or talk about something more interesting, such as what we did that day at school. These conversations forced us to recall, to order our thoughts, create a narrative, and if questioned, to explain.

These conversations strengthened the bonds among us. And are not family bonds foundtional to community bonds?

Washing dishes presented learning opportunities as well. In order to get through the task as quickly as possible, we developed and optimzed the process: let the dishes soak for a while; rinse them in hot water; wash pots and pans last; keep sharp knives out of the sink until you’re ready to wash them, etc.

I learnt about air pressure by lifting water in an upside-down glass above the water level of the sink. I came to understand how hot water cleaned better than cold. Talking about things, whether it was our day at school or the news, taught us about different points of view, which in turn helped us to develop our ideas.

Much of this is lost with the dishwasher. A technology that reduces the drudgery of kitchen chores has unanticipated consequences.