I’m so thankful for the invention of the dishwasher. Without a dishwasher, I’m the dishwasher. I was the dishwasher for my entire childhood. My parents graciously waited until I had moved out to buy a mechanical replacement.

I only have one real complaint about the dishwasher. You have to pre-wash dishes before loading them. It’s a dishwasher. It should wash the dishes. Why am I pre-washing dishes if I have a dishwasher?

If I just had to knock the left-over food into the garbage can or garbage disposal and give it a rinse, I would have no problem with the process. But the instant that I pick up a scrubbing instrument, I’m washing. Given an additional 10-30 seconds, I’ve basically washed the dish. Why am I washing dishes if I have a dishwasher?

Arguments I’ve heard and my responses:

“You have to get rid of the things that stick.”
      Anything beyond basic scraping amounts to dishwashing and has left my jurisdiction.

“The dishwasher is less about cleaning and more about sanitizing.”
      Then they should be called dish sanitizers; not dishwashers.

“If you loaded it better…”
      :PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

“If you loaded it sooner…”
      Yet more :PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

“Just do it, Greggory! Jeeez!”
      Fine!

If I put my dirty clothes in the washing machine, they come out clean. I don’t have to pre-wash them (and I don’t consider pre-treating stains as pre-washing… not that I do that, either). If a washing machine can wash clothes without pre-washing, why can’t a dishwasher wash dishes without pre-washing?

To the manufacturers: Make a better dishwasher and save my marriage. Go on now. Get to it.
-CG