Doing the dishes is the worst chore in existence, and no one can convince me otherwise. The absolute last thing I want to do after Iโve finished a nice homemade meal is wash the mountain of dishes it took to create. No one wants to touch those fatty pieces of meat or tough cartilage that we didnโt know we were biting into until it was too late.ย
โThe whole process is messy and I donโt like it,โ Athletic Trainer Carlos Gonzalez said.
I wanted to better understand what some people think the worst house chores are, so I asked my peers. Besides doing the dishes, the top three worst chore responses I heard were: doing the laundry, cleaning the bathroom, and cleaning out drains.
After doing the dishes, Gonzalez said his second least favorite chore is cleaning the bathroom because the number of times you have to do the dishes outnumbers the number of times you have to clean the bathroom.
Along with doing the dishes, laundry is also a repetitive task that seems like it is never-ending. Both tasks have to be done multiple times throughout the week, and just as you finish one load, it seems like you are already onto the next.
Something else the two have in common is their poor environmental effects. However, doing the dishes has worse environmental consequences than doing the laundry. To effectively clean your dishes, it uses mass amounts of water.ย
After a series of tests run by Reviewed, they determined โHand washing used 5 times as much water as an efficient dishwasher, and 3.5 times more water as an average dishwasher.โ
One could consider using paper plates as an alternative, but it has other environmental ramifications such as paper waste.
Sarah Bjornson, senior shift lead at Starbucks, said cleaning the sinks and drains is one of the worst chores to do because the excess sauces and espresso build up in the drains.
Bjornson said that it is not the feeling of doing the dishes, so much as the repetitiveness.
โIf Iโm doing dishes at night, I donโt care for it, but if I do it during the day, thatโs probably the best task you can possibly do,โ Bjornson said. โYou can go into the bakery and itโs so peaceful in there, and you just put on some music and take some time to get away from the chaos on the floor.โ
When it comes to doing the dishes, another massive issue could be roommates and the agreements that come with sharing the sink and dishes. With roommates, you need to agree on either taking turns washing the dishes, whether they should be taken care of within 24 hours of dirtying them, or if dishes should be left in the sink overnight. Some roommates also discuss whether or not they want to use the dishwasher as a household, or just wash their dishes by hand which could give way to communication problems.
When sheโs at home, Bjornson has her own method of doing her dishes.
โWhen itโs other peopleโs and you have 5 bowls and several plates, or a cup, then thatโs when itโs moreโฆ And I have a certain system of doing dishes, like soaking things in water and making sure you rinse it before you put it in the soaking thing,” Bjornson said. “But not everyone does that, so then it ruins my setup when other people throw in their dishes in my little setup.”
My least favorite thing about doing the dishes is having to touch any leftover food that was stuck on the dish. I despise the feeling of mushy food on my hands. Once I am finished, I make sure I scrub my hands thoroughly, erasing any remnants of food that I can no longer put a name to. But after scrubbing, my hands are left feeling dry from the amount of dish soap I felt the need to use.
I sent out a survey, asking California Lutheran University students whether or not they believe doing dishes is the worst house chore. To my surprise, it seems that a majority of Cal Lutheran students do not believe that doing the dishes is the worst chore.
After receiving responses from 54 Cal Lutheran students, it is clear that a majority of people disagree with me; 27.8% said that dishes are the worst, while the other 72.2% said that dishes are not the worst.ย
No amount of reasoning can change my firm opinion that washing the dishes is the most dreaded chore. The idea of taking on the enormous pile of dishes is the last thing I want to do after an enjoyable homemade dinner.
