I’m Right, You’re Wrong!

by Marinka on September 2, 2011

I’m Right, You’re a Dumbass (as Wendi once referred to it) is back! A fun-loving feature where I present you with a disagreement that I had with a loved one and ask you to please weigh in. In order not to prejudice you towards voting for me, I do not disclose which option was mine, and the fact that I will fight to the death in defending one of those options in the comments should not prejudice you at all.

Disagreement: As you probably know, my family and I were at my parents’ Catskills house when the hurricane struck. And although we were all fine, we lost power. FOR FOUR DAYS. By Wednesday, we decided to close up the house and get the hell back to NYC. Because there was no power, we also had no water and could not do the dishes for the past 4 days. Dilemma: What should be done with the dirty dishes?

Disagreers: Marinka and Papa (who comments as Awesome Dude).

Position One: There is a metal box in the garage. Empty it. Put all dishes into the box, bring it to NYC and wash the dishes there.

Position Two: There is a metal box in the garage. Empty it. Put all dishes into the box, bring it to the pond that’s on the property and put it in the stream next to the little bridge that is there.

What do you think? Please pretend that the obvious “leave the dishes in the sink/dishwasher and fuckitall” isn’t an option.

One year ago ...

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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }

ladyday September 2, 2011 at 12:20 am

Is this pond/stream heated? Because this was a disagreement I had with my husband as well during the three days we were without electricity. Clearly anyone with any sense knows that dishes will not be clean unless both soap AND hot water are used to wash them.

In my situation I told hubby that if he wanted to wash stuff in cold water, have at it! But do not under any circumstances put them away in the cupboard with the other clean stuff. Kindly stack them neatly on the counter so that I can wash them again later when the hot water returns.

All praise Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison and George Whirlpool (inventor of the dishwasher)!

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maria from nj September 2, 2011 at 12:20 am

Oh well, leave them at the pond and the ‘pond fairies’ (lol, say that three times) will wash and put them away. Or not.

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Zina September 2, 2011 at 12:50 am

So, I guess eating off paperware was out of the question.

Was, um, washing the dishes by hand in the sink in the house not an option?

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Zina September 2, 2011 at 12:55 am

Oh, now I see you didn’t have running water. Could you have fetched some from the stream and boiled it over the fire in the fireplace? Or just, you know, take the dishes back to New York to wash them–yes, that sounds good.

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Jessica
Twitter:
September 2, 2011 at 1:38 am

Um, take them back to NYC. Not only is washing them in the stream really not that sanitary–but in order to get dishes washed properly you need hot water.

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deborah l quinn
Twitter:
September 2, 2011 at 4:44 am

Throw them away and buy new dishes? Oh. Wait. That wasn’t an option. Um…bring them home and pay Young Ladrinka to wash them?

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Nina September 2, 2011 at 6:42 am

Rinse them in the pond, wash them properly in the house once the water/heat comes back.

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Schmamy September 2, 2011 at 7:01 am

Can I assume there’s a dishwasher of the mechanical kind in NYC? Because that seems to be the only option.

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Becky
Twitter:
September 2, 2011 at 8:42 am

Since this wasn’t an episode of “Little House on the Catskills”, I’m going to opt for bringing the dirty dishes back to NYC. But then again, I would have opted for paper plates.

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eevie September 2, 2011 at 9:51 am

Can you clarify whether the opinion-holder of position two means that the dishes should be washed in the stream, or that the dishes should be released into their natural habitat of lying at the bottom of the stream?

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Hillary Bidwell September 11, 2011 at 11:13 pm

haha!

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Loukia September 2, 2011 at 10:07 am

God, this made me laugh. I’m going with position one. But position two is totallly hilarious!

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dusty earth mother September 2, 2011 at 10:13 am

Unless this is the family heirloom Catskills china, I say leave it until there’s hot water again. Unless you ate only cheese for four days because cheese sticks like glue and in case it’s a month or so until you have hot water, that would be bad.

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Jessica September 2, 2011 at 10:20 am

I’m assuming y’all need a soak after no water for 4 days? Skinny-dip stream it and have a soak with your dishes…

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Wendi
Twitter:
September 2, 2011 at 10:38 am

Why didn’t you just let the squirrels lick them clean?

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annie September 2, 2011 at 10:53 am

um hello – have you never been camping? build yourself a little fire, boil water add some soap and wash the damn dishes. Fill the metal box with wine.

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Elise September 2, 2011 at 11:15 am

I always agree with you!

Come on over to collect your Goddess award anytime!

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Catherine
Twitter:
September 2, 2011 at 12:13 pm

Where is the “throw everything out and buy new stuff” option?

Okay, I get it, I have to choose from what’s available to me. What am I 13? Options aren’t endless.

I am a woman, so this is my logic: only a man would have come up with the amount of randomness involved into putting a metal box full of dishes in a stream. Because only a man would confuse “Beaver Fever” with “must’ve been something I ate”.

So if you aren’t just going to chuck everything out, or leave it until the power comes back, then you are going to bring it home to wash.

Right?

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Eva Gallant September 2, 2011 at 12:15 pm

Darn! The non-option was my choice! Just stopped by from the Goddess. Hope you return the visit!

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Laurie September 2, 2011 at 12:28 pm

I would have washed the food off in the stream and left them to be washed sanitarily when you go back to the cabin. However, I do camp and there have been good suggestions as to the heating of the water and washing them that way. Now you know for the next hurricane.

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Agnes September 2, 2011 at 2:21 pm

Paper plates?

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Heather
Twitter:
September 2, 2011 at 4:52 pm

If by “put it in the stream” you mean “leave them there forever because washing four days worth of dishes would suck, and therefore we would like to let the fish nibble on our crumblettes and we’ll buy new dishes,” then I vote for that one.

If you mean “let the stream wash them,” then no. I vote for taking them back to NYC and washing them for real.

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awesome dude September 2, 2011 at 6:31 pm

I, actually, meant to put them there to conserve an effort of carrying them around dirty; until the power is back and they could be retrieved and washed in the dishwasher in the usual fashion.

I just washed them today and they were full of dried hard food remnants.

May be I will just buy a Cinderella costume for the next Halloween
party.

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Beth September 3, 2011 at 3:18 am

Is it just me that finds this idea genius?

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Mackenzie September 3, 2011 at 10:25 am

makes sense to me!

I mean, it would stop them from getting too hard and gunky. I mean, that’s why I soak my dishes until I’m energetic enough to get to washing!

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anna see September 2, 2011 at 7:58 pm

I would probably avoid washing them at all and hope someone else would take care of it the next time we went to the cabin. However, if I had to choose, I would take them to NYC.

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Glamamom
Twitter:
September 3, 2011 at 11:35 am

No power is the worst! Forget the dishes, how did you wash yourselves?

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MommyTime
Twitter:
September 3, 2011 at 7:35 pm

FYI: Your blog really REALLY loves you, because I tried to leave a comment supporting a version of position 2, and it wouldn’t let me type anything at all.

I would have insisted that someone go purchase “camp suds” — a peppermint-scented biodegradable, fish-safe soap that hard-core campers use to wash the dishes, themselves, their hair, and who knows what else, all in whatever the nearest body of water might be. Then I would have sent my kids into the pond with a new sponge and made them wash all the dishes. I’m not saying I would EAT off those dishes the next time I went to the Catskills without first running them through the dishwasher, necessarily, but it would at least prevent having to cart back a giant box of stinky, sticky dishes or leaving said dishes to fossilize in the cabin before the return of power and a washing crew.

To be sure this is clear: there would, under no circumstances, be a requirement that any adult use camp suds to wash her hair.

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anna ~ random handprints September 4, 2011 at 10:52 am

after reading awesome dude’s comment all i think of is poor papa. i hope you can find the cinderella costume in your size.

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Rainyday September 4, 2011 at 5:40 pm

I would do a combo – wash/rinse them in the river first to avoid the dreaded crunchies and then bring them home to wash with soap and hot water.

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Ilana
Twitter:
September 4, 2011 at 10:50 pm

Wait— we’re not saying that you have to wash the dishes in the stream? Just leave them there? I’m going with that one. That way the dishes will be there for whoever is in the house next.

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Erin I'm Gonna Kill Him
Twitter:
September 4, 2011 at 11:48 pm

I just like the imagery of you crouched beside a stream, washing them in water and drying them with an apron.

That’s right, I gave you an apron in this imagined sequence.

(I would have no part of that stream).

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