Actually, Washington is an "at will" employment state. You are allowed to fire people for any reason except those that are specifically protected (race, religion, disability, age, sex, veteran status, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting). But you CAN fire them for being weird. A note for the future. :)

Oh, wow. If hubby had dishwasher that spontaneously broke out into song, he'd lose it. He has a hard time finding good dishwashers, too. Missouri is an at-will state, as well, he uses it frequently.

Breaking into song is not so bad; I once fired a dishwasher that was on meth. He was all twitchy and creepy. His eyes were like headlights. You see all kinds in a kitchen. Yes, thank God for at-will employment!

The last restaurant I worked at had a HUGE problem keeping dishwashers. But once my boss realized that if he didn't fire them for smoking weed by the dumpsters, he kept them around a long time. Granted, it took awhile to get the dishes washed, but he wasn't constsntly doing paperwork. He initiated a don't ask don't tell policy. It worked very well. My current restaurant is in San Antonio and all the bock of house workers speak Spanish. Most of them only speak Spanish. I don't speak a single word so I sometimes wonder if they're making fun of me. They ask me questions is jarbled english and laugh at the answer... oh well.

"AT WILL" employment is great!

And, Leslie, if the questions and laughs get to be too much, here is a phrase (use carefully) in Spanish (written and phonetically) that you might consider --

En sus suenos mojados (that's the written)

"N soos sway nee yos mo ha does" (phonetic)

It translates to "in your wet dreams" (sorry, FW, but I'm dealing with a friend's too early death)

I've used it to good effect, but it's always depended upon my audience :)

Yes, a good (or even decent) dishwasher is hard to come by.

I've worked with one would would go out back and do cartwheeels and handsprings out back during her break.

Another one that was a war vet who would freak out (and I mean REALLY) freak out if you walked behind him..which was a challenge since the easiest position to wash dishes is facing the sink with your back to the rest of the kitchen.

Oh yes...and there was also the allegedly straight male bodybuilder obviously hopped up on steriods that was fascinated with gay sex and for some reason kept inquiring with me about starting a career in porn, as well as the dishwashers that I found hoarding Liquid Paper; I found lots of half-empty bottles in their 'stash', which they told me they were using to make 'corrections' on their schedule.

But no singing.
That's for amateurs...

I'd buy a ticket to watch the performance.

That's the difference between a teen dishwasher and a 30-something dishwasher. I wash dishes at a teeny restaurant and I swear it's the best job ever. I cook and plate when necessary, I get free coffee when it's slow, and the boss always feeds us. I had NO learning curve, which was awesome. I also get to enjoy flabbergasted looks when I tell people I'm a professional dishwasher. :)

Dishwashers don't realize the ultimate power they possess in their wrinkled hands. The fate of the day's meals is up to them- if they choose to turn cartwheels, smoke pot, practice their Judy Garland routine or huff white-out instead of do their job the entire restaurant will come to a grinding halt. Granted, it is still a crappy job but oh, the power!

Hi there, I just found your website through another food blogger and you are hilarious. Will keep reading!

Too bad we don't live near you. My 17-year old son is a dishwasher and has been at his job for over a year. He is always early, has never called in sick or been late, will go in at the drop of a hat even if called at 11:00 on a Saturday night (we live right up the street from the restaurant)and loves to scrub the pots and pans. He usually does that and lets the other diswashers run the dishwasher. And, get this, he finds the fact that there is a SKUNK living under the dumpster out back AMUSING. The restaurant has been through many other dishwashers over the last summer, probably about 6 of them, most of who were in their 20's and 30's. He is the only one who stuck. They give him great hours as a reward. I am really proud of him!

I have very fond memories of several super hero dishwashers...one older guy made himself "sanitation manager" and kept the department staffed, disciplined, and he would go out and find them if they didn't show up when he was off and drag them into work. No one wanted to disappoint him with greasy floors, and our back loading dock was cleaner, neater and more organised than most peoples front yards. He was very proud of holding keys (to the towel dispensers, but hey!)and saved up to buy diamond earrings for his baby girls. I MISS HOWARD! (I left, I'm sure he's still there)

There's weird, and there's crazy. Tweakers are weird; your silent treatment/singer might just be crazy. Seriously, her mental health sounds questionable, and I'm hoping her father has the sense to "make" her get in touch with a doctor.

jonny

jonny

jonny

jonny

jonny, get a life

I wash dishes. It's not easy, or fun but it can pay the bills. I wish I could move out there and work for you. I reallly do.

I find this post quite timely, since I was a dishwasher at a catering company, which also had a small restaurant and meeting room out front, this past summer. I was hired on as kitchen staff, but ended up replacing the dishwasher. It was fun at times, especially when they hired a helper for me` for the last few weeks I was there, who was an excellent worker. I hated the silence and isolation of the dish pit, which was in a room separate from the kitchen, so after a few weeks I brought in my mp3 player with me and sang along. My boss complimented me on my singing once and said we should both quit and record a CD. I actually found the kitchen staff to be quite quirky; one of the head chefs in particular was kind of odd and moody. So who knows; maybe the grass is always greener...?