Dear LPG,

My husband and I avoided that bit in the middle where one was retired and the other was not and I think that I made a very wise choice all those years ago, without knowing, because we have just the right age gap.  When we retired we promised ourselves that rather than leave our respective lump sums to get lost in one of our bank accounts we would do a few things, the result of which we would be able to see around us for at least a few years to come.  Our philosophy was that it would be better to be able to see what I had done with it as opposed to just spending it all on little things while our pension pot shrunk into nonexistence right in front of our eyes.

Well, first we paid off the balance of the mortgage, made a little provision for the children, had a good holiday and went on an extended visit with a family member who lives abroad, then we turned our attention to some house renovation, and at the top of that list was our ageing kitchen.  

The one we settled on came with the choice of a free appliance.  We had the choice of a dish washer or a state of the art retractable kitchen television and my husband thought that the dishwasher was the way to go. 

But I have noticed a few things over the years.   My brother was the first member of my immediate family to have one installed.  After dinner at his house there was a new question asked at the end of the meal.  He would look at his children and say ‘OK, who is going to stack the dish washer?’, and, the reaction of my niece and nephews was just as negative as when they were asked to wash up.

Being a grandma who babysits quite often has taught me a few things too.  All my children have dishwashers and when at their houses, I have noticed that the saucepans still need to be washed by hand, and many of the plates appear to need a bit of pre-dishwasher help too.  I have also noticed that nearly every item of crockery or cutlery I need to find while making the children’s’ dinner always seems to be in the contraption.  They are quite expensive to run I am told, so most people wait for them to fill up and wash the dishes last thing at night with the result that most of the crockery and cutlery is dirty when you actually find it because the novelty of bending down to empty it each morning is another job that appears to get missed quite often.   It also has to be said that there appears to be a lot of bending involved, although the eye-level dishwashers are coming.  But at the moment, whether you are putting the dishes in or taking them out I need to consider my ageing back.   My back has a hard enough time when I stand and wash up which only involves offering it one exercise session per cycle.  

On the positive side my brother tells that the dishes are practically sterilised and much cleaner when they are dish-washed because the water used is much hotter than human hands can stand.  In fact, he mentioned recently that they are so clean that he often puts the dog’s plate in with the dishes; needless to say that in spite of the many visits I still make, I am now reluctant to even drink a cup of tea during catch ups at his house these days.

All in all, we decided that the kitchen telly was the way to go…

CC, Dulwich

CC offers some evidence to support her claims by way of some statistics and personal opinions on the subject…

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