We let things done by someone else, even tough we know that that other will not going to do it instead of us. But we close the door, press the button and wait. And then we are surprised, quite a lot when it comes to open again.

Dishwasher was invented to save us time, so we can work ever harder in other specialized fields, so we earn more money, and run the economy. Quite simple, and created a win-win situation. One of the best advertisments was the one, where a couple is sitting in an elegant livingroom on a sofa, placed in the front of a dishwasher. They are drinking wine and about to start a relationship or so. Suddenly the man says to the women 'I am sorry, I need to do the dishes'. The woman gets quite dissapointed, she was prepared for something else at the moment. So the man just presses the button on the dishwasher and gets back to the woman and the wine. Fascinating!

I love dishwashers, I really do. I have nothing against them, but they do not only save us time. This machine promises something more. It gives us freedom, because in that hour, when our grandmothers washed the dishes, they did not have the time for doing such things as sitting and drinking. Everyone must agree, that the second option is a much more pleasent way of spending time, than the first one. Dishwasher is great!

What is not so great is what this machine does with our way of thinking about our dirt, and that is what I call the dishwasher syndrom. Having a machine which washes the dishes does not mean we have to forget how to wash dishes. They were made to be simple, dirty dishes go in, clean dishes come out. Everyone can do it, you would think. But, whichever kitchen I go, I meet dirty dishes all the time, and the answer is always the same, the liquid or the pill is not good enough, or the machine is too old, so we need a new one. What about learning how to use them? When you finish eating your meal you place the dishes into the machine and press the button, and have a suprised face taking them out. What is this disgusting, grey, dusty-slimy thing on all the dishes? That is what you forgot to wash off, that is your dirt.

The dishwasher syndrom is not about machines nor dishes. It is about something bigger, about a way of thinking. It is about the misunderstanding of having tools around us, which we have never learned to use. It is about our lazy and ignorant behaviour, about our very barbarian human way of being, which can never be covered with any modern tool, no matter what. It does not matter that you have the most expensive sofa, a limited edition, excellent, aged wine, and the most beautiful women in town ready to be yours. What matters for real is that you have forgotten to clean up after yourself, and there is nothing which can replace that. That is the real dirt, which can only be washed off by yourself.