In my sister Sara’s kitchen is a poster stating, “Everybody wants a revolution, but nobody wants to do the dishes”. When I first read it, I laughed; no one in our families enjoys cleaning up the kitchen. That task has been the subject of many family discussions and negotiations.
In the end, doing dishes falls on me more often than not. At one point I embraced it, turned up the music, and tried to make it fun. But that didn’t take away my drudgery; I’d rather be doing something else. I want to do more “important work” -- to make a difference, to create the change I want to see in the world.
For some reason, I have a belief that doing dishes is getting in the way of that work. If I timed it, I’d see that doing dishes takes less time than imagined -- perhaps 15 minutes? Will 15 minutes stop me from making a difference?
If I considered the importance of menial tasks like doing dishes, I’d realize that they are important to our general health and safety. If we don’t do them, we’d have to contend with some pretty disgusting stuff.
Doing dishes should be elevated to a position of supreme importance -- those who are chosen to do dishes must be highly respected. Once they are done with that, they can still change the world.
Really, we can be part of the revolution and do dishes too. Both are equally important.
I’m Elsa Glover and that’s my perspective
