Would you be able to tell me what a GE cupboard is? I wonder. My father commented on our GE cupboard regularly. In his heyday he would have a nightly bowl of cornflakes just before bedtime. He, not unlike a kid or probably most of us, had his “special bowl.” For his nighttime ritual, it fit into his cupped hand perfectly so he could hold it while watching the 9 o’clock news. Personally I have a special spoon.
My mother was a frugal woman. She thought hot water was a major expense, enough so as to not run the dishwasher until it was completely full. So there were evenings the thing was nearly, but not quite, full of dirty dishes and in that menagerie was his special bowl from the night before.
Oh, he would look in the appointed place where all the other bowls lived, but on these evenings, when his bowl wasn’t washed and put away, his voice could be heard throughout the house his bowl was in that blankity-blank GE cupboard. Yes, our GE cupboard was the dishwasher. His thinking was the dishes were never put in their appointed place — they were stored in the GE cupboard. Yeah, our family didn’t go out much! Anyway, with that said, here’s what I don’t like to do ...
I don’t like to unload the dishwasher and put the dishes away. There’s nothing enjoyable about this chore. You know, now that I think about it, maybe my mom didn’t like this chore, either. Maybe this is an inherited trait. I’m going with that!
Usually, if you’re like me, there are mind games played when doing work. Like vacuuming. I tell myself the cat is shedding and vacuuming will make the house look fresher and if I use some kind of shake-n-sniff before using the sucker, the air will smell like a pine tree is growing in the living room. So I don’t mind vacuuming, it has a beginning and an end.
But unloading the dishwasher isn’t the same. It’s a circle of time consuming bending over, stretching up, balancing, and most annoying, rewashing things that didn’t get a full-blown shower the first time around. Oh, and then there are the cups that get upended and end up full of cold water with little pieces of food items floating around like they were in a spa. The water is kind of slippery because it’s soapy and you sometimes don’t see the water in the cup until you grab it and it dumps that slimy, cold, dirty water on the stuff on the bottom shelf. It isn’t a pretty sight.
I don’t keep track of whether or not the dishes are put away. So when I go to put a bowl or cup from the sink into the dishwasher, to start yet another meal, I’m deflated when I open the dishwasher to find it full of clean dishes ready to be put away. Aarrgh.
Please don’t get me wrong. I feel blessed to have a GE cupboard. I washed many a sink full of dishes in my time to not appreciate the thing. Especially at Thanksgiving or when I’m baking a mountain of cookies or pies for some event. I mean who would turn up their nose at this wonderful time saving appliance? Not me. I just have this animosity toward putting the clean dishes away. Hey, nobody said all things in life were completely understandable.
I thought I was the only house mouse that had an aversion to unloading her GE cupboard. But recently in a discussion with a friend she also voiced her displeasure at this unending circle of drudgery. I mentioned I’ve been told I should just leave the dishes in the GE cupboard and use it as a cupboard. On the surface that seems like a good idea. But upon further thought, it wouldn’t work. I do use a lot of the same stuff day after day, but occasionally there’s a pan or a “special” bowl or something unusual, like a baseball cap that’s stinky and sweaty and gross and needs to be thrown away, but I promise I will try to wash it first. Anyway, the perpetual cupboard thing is just a pipe dream.
Now there are those out there who think this is just another rant, a misuse of time to write about and a bigger misuse of time to read about. That may be to some. But there’s something in your daily or weekly or maybe even monthly schedule of things you need to do. Over and over again that just grates you the wrong way. If there is and you come up with the ultimate way of doing your chore with a happy whistle while you work, I applaud you. As for me, it’s not a whistle that can be heard when I pucker up while standing in front of my yet again full GE cupboard.
Tina lives in Eureka, Nevada. Share with her at itybytrina@yahoo.com. Really!
