The Life Expectancy of a Dish Washer - Conclusion

____Putting up with circumstances such as these for three years is a feat best not repeated, though I admit that I have a sense of pride for having done it. Even then, it wasn’t all bad. I’ve made good friends and had fun in my time as a dishwasher, and all the confounding behavior and forcefully applied incompetence can’t dilute that. More importantly, my job allowed me to do something fairly surprising, considering the type of work I was doing; I could think.

____Washing dishes is stressful, to be sure, but it’s also not too terribly difficult. I could very easily slip into autopilot while alone in my dishpit, and think about any number of things: what I’d do when I got home, homework that was due soon, story ideas and even the direction my life was taking. I was in my dishpit when I decided to become a college English professor. I had visions of sitting in my office grading papers, when the clattering rumble of a cart outside my door would trigger a flashback to being in my dishpit. This menial task I was set to doing would let me appreciate my eventual career more than if I was working retail, or some other job fit for a college student.

____Being a dishwasher is fine as a temporary measure, but prolonged exposure to it is unadvisable. In the last two months I’ve had daily migraines, near constant heartburn and I’ve begun to develop what I can only describe as borderline insomnia. It stems from my job, and I know this because two weeks ago I was given a week off, and in that time my migraines eased, my heartburn decreased and I could sleep easier. Those maladies may have temporarily subsided, but I could not stop reminding myself that I had to go back there. I tried enjoying my free time by going to movies and spending time with family and friends, but that nagging, gnashing idea of going back persisted. I decided on one simple thing during my time off; when I get back and it looks like I’ve been gone for a week, I’m putting my two weeks in. Sure enough, the kitchen looked the part.

____The silverware bin was full to bursting, none of the sheet pans were clean, and I found bits of mold growing in soup cups. At the end of my shift I wrote a note to Brandon explaining my decision, as well as my intention to train my replacement. Brandon understood completely, and he has been more than gracious. If anything he’s surprised I stayed on this long. Today, April 22nd, is my last official day as a dishwasher. As I said I’ll be training my replacement, whenever they are hired, because as much as I despise that place I don’t want to leave it the way I found it. My replacement also needs to know there is a life expectancy for a dishwasher, and they would do best not to exceed it.