Until this weekend, I was the owner of a 25-year-old dishwasher that (I do not exaggerate) audibly groaned when you used it.
Last week, it died a remarkably noisy and burnt-plastic-smelling death, so we replaced it with a shiny new model on Friday. We got it all hooked up, and Hubs read the directions for me (it is a given in this family that if it plugs in and has buttons, I will not read the manual).
He informed me that the instructions specifically say that you should not pre-rinse your dishes before loading them.
I beg your pardon?
There are just some things a girl just doesn't do. You don't wear white shoes after Labor Day. You don't leave the price sticker on a gift. And you don't load the dishwasher without pre-rinsing.
The idea is just shocking. Shocking!
This model has a food-chopper-upper (yes, that's the technical name) and the manual says that it's a "waste of energy resources" to pre-rinse dishes. Evidently the 2.6 seconds it takes to rinse off a dinner plate will irrevocably destroy the ozone layer and kill all the baby seals in Africa. Or Antartica. Or wherever.
Because I'm nothing if not "green", I did my part for the environment by putting my dishes directly in the new dishwasher. No rinsing. Not a drop.
Y'all, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I looked at the dirty dish, looked at the sink, looked at the dishwasher, looked back at the dirty dish--and throwing caution to the wind, I put the plate right in.
It felt so strange. But I'm happy to report that my dishes and I survived this daring behavior. The plates are clean, and I have manged to carve 45 seconds of pre-rinsing off my list of daily responsibilities. But I am changed.
Oh, yes, I am changed.
Next thing you know I'll be skipping conditioner. Or waiting more than two weeks to send a thank-you note. Or dancing on tables at a night club.
Y'all might need to add a parental block to ol' Rocks In My Dryer.
