When I was writing yesterday about what a pleasure it is to not have to deal with crabby and moody coworkers when I am working at home, I couldn’t help but start thinking about other coworker “stuff” that I do not miss from the more traditional job—mainly having to deal with other people’s dirty dishes in the lunch or break room!
That was one of those things I never really understood about human behavior when I was working the full time jobs—those individuals who left their dirty dishes and coffee cups in the sink. Some people did it under the guise of “soaking” but then they never returned to actually wash out the darn dish—leaving it, instead, for someone else to do. Who, I always wondered, do they think washes out the dish?
I remember a few years back, working for a large nonprofit organization. That was a place where dirty dishes were aplenty! Overflowing refrigerator of old lunches, and every single coffee mug would be dirty and people would start using paper cups instead of washing up after themselves. I can remember dozens of times when I was rolling up the sleeves of my silk shirts in order to clean up enough to make a pot of tea.
Working in the pleasant atmosphere of my own cozy little home, I have my own self to clean up after (not that I didn’t when I was working the more traditional jobs too) and I do not have to clean up the coworkers’ plates, cups and flatware every morning before I can fill the coffee pot. I may have to rinse one of my kids’ cereal bowls and tuck it into the dishwasher, but for some reason that doesn’t bother me nearly as much as cleaning up after full grown adults!