Sarah's anonymous blog is dedicated to my roommate with whom I have been friends with for over 15 years. While I love my friend dearly, since I moved in with him I can now understand why he's over 60 and still single. Just kidding, I think.
A little ranting to lower my blood pressure and blow off steam can't hurt... I can also share some creative ways I've found to cope.
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Dishes
The Problem
Why does one person need 23 plates, 12 bowls, 31 glasses, 12 coffee cups, 55 forks, 38 butter knives, 82 spoons, and 19 steak knives? It took me a few months to figure it out...
Shortly after I moved in I washed every dish, pot, & pan in the house. It wasn't long before they all started piling up again. I'm a "wash as you go" sort. While I'm cooking I wash my dishes and clean the kitchen. Since my roommate said he didn't expect me to clean up after him I just stacked his dirty dishes up on the island out of my way. Less than a week later there wasn't a clean plate in the house and he bought paper plates, plastic utensils and styrofoam bowls and there wasn't a clear spot on the island. Once again I washed every dish in the house only to have the same thing happen again. Oh well, I live here rent free I might as well wash his dishes. He proceeded to use even more pots, pans, and dishes in the same time period. 😧 Does toast really need its own plate? 9 plates/bowls for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks is a little much.
My solution
I hid most of the utensils in a box under the cabinet. I bought two dishpans to put under the sink. I made sure the "dirty" dishes were scraped and dry so they wouldn't grow anything disgusting and put them under the sink in the dishpans.
I kept out 4 plates, 4 bowls, and a small assortment of utensils. Anything I don't want to wash ends up in the dish pans under the sink. Especially the pots and pans that are impossible to clean after he burns food in them.
Today, a year later the dishes under the sink have now been washed but he hasn't bothered to look. The kitchen island, counter-tops, and sink stay relatively clear of dirty dishes. He hasn't bought any new dishes, silverware, pots or pans since he still has plenty "dirty" and there would be no place to put new ones when he gets around to doing "his" dishes. He hasn't done dishes in over 2 years... No, I take that back. He did dishes for me once, I had to do them again!
Random Thoughts
Oh, there is a dishwasher. I haven't fixed it since he puts dirty dishes in it without scraping off the food. 😝
A while back we were both in the kitchen and I made myself a cup of coffee. After using a spoon to stir my coffee I washed it off and put it in the drainer. My roommate (who had just buttered his bread and left the dirty knife on the counter) looked at me like I had two heads. After I grabbed his knife and washed it he wanted to know why I did that, he would need to use it tomorrow to butter his bread. We don't share the butter!
He still buys disposable dishes and utensils because he's afraid he won't have a clean plate or fork when he needs one. Most of the time they are clean, just in the dishwasher where I put them to dry. Might as well use it for something. He doesn't put away clean dishes either. His opinion is "Why bother? I'm just going to use them."
I found out the reason he had so many utensils was because he just kept buying them instead of washing them. Once the sink was full of them he decided he better start buying the plastic ones.
I heard the roommates car pull up... Gotta go!!!
P.S. If you know who I am please don't rat me out to the roomie! 🐭