Doing dishes

The warmth in the air and the quiet surrounding reminds me of the
summer holidays from
school. Yes, the familiar dried heat from outside and the quietness.
There was never much
to do, but to stroll to a school friend's house nearby to sit out the
heat together. There is
always food from my friend's house prepared for by their parents. I
would hang out with
different friends based largely on their availability. The population
size reduces significantly
during this time of the year.

I have always found it interesting to observe the idiosyncrasy imposed
by each household.
The kids face different fears, exhibit different behaviours and hide
different actions
predicated by these respective house rules. As a guest, the general
rule of thumb is to
simply stay quiet, smile a lot, speak politely and you are always
welcome. Liking their food
earns you extra brownie points.

Parents are curious about their strange guest too. They would typically
ask me questions
about my family. It will take me all of 30 seconds to explain
everything, whilst they take the
rest of the day to tell me about their's. I really don't mind. I like
listening to their stories.

It sounds really weird but I particularly like stories about fruits
that they have in countries
where they have come from, or special things that they do in their home
countries. They
often speak with such fondness that they will have me riveted. They
become transformed
to another place and they fill my head with images of exotic places and
foods. I am always
dying to visit these places and seeing them for myself.

Another thing that never ceases to amaze me is how dishes are done in
each household.
They are surprisingly and invariably different. But the significant
issue is that it absolutely
HAS to be that way. Disgust, disapproval, and even angst sometimes will
result for any
deviation from "the way". It is a rule stricter than any other,
almost.

The ritual starts from the clearing of the plates. There are two
activities here. First is the
management of the leftover food. Second is the disposal of the rubbish.
In the space of
leftover management, for some, leftover foods are firstly transferred
from the current
container into a smaller and much more appropriately sized container.
They are then
wrapped up tightly with plastic wrap. These neat little packages are
then put away into
the appropriate compartment inside the fridge. For others, like my
father, is a direct transfer
from table to fridge. And it can be anywhere within the fridge,
including directly on top of
another dish, probably from the day before. He can afford to do so
because he knows
that he will never have to eat it the following day anyway, so it
doesn't really matter. In
between, some people will use foil rather than plastic wrap. Some will
transfer the content
into another container and some won't. For others still, leftovers are
made into lunch by
simply getting poured into a plastic lunch box.

With rubbish disposal, the environmentally conscious will segregate
their waste and
treat them accordingly. For example, used cooking oil will go into a
special milk carton
filled an emulsifying compound of sorts that will turn the smelly gunk
into a nurturing
fertiliser. Others, like my mother will ?I am actually too disgusted to
report what she
does with it. Anyway, the methods are wide and varied. For example,
some people
love the insinkerator and others absolutely dread it and feel that they
are the source
of the blue-green algae problem in our river system.

Next comes the washing. The choice of tools will include a brush, a
sponge cloth,
a 3M sponge pad with a scourer at one end, a magic cloth, a normal
cloth, a Chux
cloth and perhaps even a pair of bare hands for the really casual or
unorganised
households. Mind you, whatever the choice is, it will be an exclusive
one. The brush
fans feel that the negotiable nature of a sponge or cloth will
compromise the hygiene
level of their dishes. Their argument is that who knows where that
cloth has been.
The fact that no one could pick up anything from the floor or wipe the
sink with a
brush ensures its purity for its designated task. The sponge or cloth
fans on the
other hand, takes the argument that dishes have to be rubbed, and not
scratched,
clean.

Then comes the water bit - to fill or not to fill. Some people prefer
to soak and wash
their dishes in a tub of water whilst others prefer a running tap. Of
course, some will
use hot water and some will use cold. I have a feeling that the
temperature at the time
may have some influence over that decision though.

With these wet but clean dishes, comes the stacking exercise. Many will
use a plastic
moulded rack for stacking and they will place each plate or glass onto
the rack according
to the moulded structure. Others however pride themselves with their
cleverness and
creativeness in stacking, and will use nothing but the dishes
themselves to create a
super-structure optimised for drying.

For some, this marks the end of the washing ritual. They will then
disappear into a couch,
resume a horizontal position and focus their attention on the current
TV program. For others,
they proceed to dry each piece and put them away into their rightful
homes inside the
various cabinets.

For me, my favourite households are simply ones which they will not
permit a guest to
enter the kitchen.