random poll

[ratcreature]

Like many other people, especially those without a dish washer, I'm not fond of doing dishes, and due to me lacking in discipline the dirty ones pile up, and I get to the point where no clean plate/fork/mug... is to be found when I need such an item to prepare and eat the food I want. And yet this does not always result in me just doing the dishes. So I'm curious about others.

Poll #5895 (not) doing dishes, how do fellow sloths cope?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 53

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How do you cope with a lack of clean dishes/cutlery?

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I never let my dirty dishes accumulate to such an extent in the first place.
15 (28.3%)

Once it's come to that point I give in and just do the dishes.
32 (60.4%)

I invite over someone who I know can't tolerate the sight of piled up dishes, and hope they'll volunteer to (help) clean up.
4 (7.5%)

That's what the reserve stash of paper plates and plastic sporks is for.
10 (18.9%)

I go out to eat elsewhere.
8 (15.1%)

I switch to eating food that can be prepared/eaten without the dishes/cutlery. (Or eat things that way regardless of custom.)
14 (26.4%)

I wash the single plate/fork/mug/whatever I need and leave the rest.
22 (41.5%)

If still possible I use related items that are clean if not ideally suited (e.g. all forks are dirty so I make do with a cake fork, or use a large plate instead of a small one etc.)
24 (45.3%)

I try to find a used item that might still be reasonably clean enough to be used again without washing it.
9 (17.0%)

I buy new dishes/cutlery.
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[auburn]

Apparently I'm a freak. My dishes don't pile up - when I'm cooking, I'll wash anything I'm done with before the meal and everything else afterward. I like the feeling of everything finished and put away. But I find washing dishes somewhat meditative, since I can think about other things, listen to the TV, talk with someone, and at the end, I've got something accomplished that I can point at as a chore done.

It probably helps that my kitchen literally doesn't have room to pile up dirty dishes and do anything else. They have to go before I can prepare another meal. So I'm not actually virtuous in anyway, merely forced by practicality and a grumbly stomach.

Plus I was raised to the tune of: Leaving Dishes Dirty Will Result in You Having Mice, Ants, and Cockroaches! At least I'm not as bad as my Mom used to be. She'd snatch your dish before you were finished eating.

[ratcreature]

In my experience, long before a pest problem you have a mold problem with disgusting smells if you ignore dishes. Though I suppose pests might be more of an issue on the ground floor or if you have a garden or the like. My brother (when he still lived alone) once asked me to water his plants while he was on vacation, and he hadn't washed the dishes before he left. The mold that grew looked like some scary space alien. I mean, it was so alarming because it began creeping out of the pot over the stove. My dishes at least never reach that stage.