A Tad more on everything!

We went up to our house in Clyde for a few days, so to say the least, it was a new/old experience because that is where our dishwasher lives –the automatic version, not the manual version.  When the time came to do the dishes, our whole routine was put out.  Our individual jobs that had been tried and true were in jeopardy just because of this piece of equipment.  What has happened to me? In my previous blogs I bemoaned the whole washing up thing, now I’m faced with an appliance that will not only wash properly (with no derogatory comments on the quality of the usual dishwasher) but dry properly too.  This made me think how quickly everything I’ve written about can change.  My need to communicate with my husband has changed.  There is no longer a need for both of us to do the dishes while at this house; to load the dishwasher only takes one person – what was I going to do?  Does this piece of equipment completely change the whole affordance thing?  Has this piece of equipment made us redundant?  Will we be forever consigned to never communicating over this most basic of tasks?  Well to answer that I would have to say yes – but only for the 4 days we were at the house.  We are back now in our little house in Dunedin, with no automatic dishwasher, just my trusty manual version and I have to say I am pleased to be back, and look forward to many conversations with my husband about how each of our days went.

Reference List:

Creek, J & Lawson-Porter. (Eds). (2007) Contempory issues in occupational therapy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Crepeau, E.B. (1991). Achieving intersubjective understanding: Examples from an occuaptional therapy treatment session. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 44, 311-317.

Green, T. F. (1968) Work, leisure and The American schools. New York: Random House.

Klein, N. (2000).No logo: Taking aim at brand bullies. Canada: Knopf.

Meredith, G.L. (1935).Adventuring in Maoriland in the Seventies. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.

Comments on other blogs
Judith Evans
Dave Armstrong
Matt Janssen
Hannah Sinclair

Needs and Labour

I think we need to change our views on washing-up as I feel it has received a bad reputation.

We seem to run a mile when there is a need to wash the dishes. Our faces take on expressions of abject pain, disgust as if to say, “Why the hell do we have to do them now”, why is this?  Has something been instilled in us from a young age? Do we have bad memories of washing up as children?  Was it one of those tasks given to you as a punishment?  I guess some of had to do the washing up as a punishment so it did leave a sour note. Isn’t  it funny how we consider washing up and many other tasks as ‘drudgery’ with little expectation of job satisfaction?  Maybe we need to think about it all differently. Honestly, if I think about the task too much before I do it, then it just makes things worse.  I have freely admitted in my previous blogs how I do not really enjoy the task but do it out of necessity and my need to catch up with my husband after a day at tech for me and a day grafting over at our other property for him.  This is where we chat about our day.  We have a need to communicate over this basic of tasks. 

I have to admit I would like to wash sometimes instead of dry, and the opportunity arose this morning.  Peter was in the shower and of course, as I have mentioned in previous blogs, the dishes were left over from the night before because of rugby.  Therefore, I set about doing the washing up my way.  I washed orderly, I set my dishes out in little groups, glasses, cups and plates, and the cutlery, ‘a bit of OCD never hurt anybody,’ I said to myself.  I had a need to clean up and create order in my house. I had a need to do the things that I do not generally get to do these days (as I am very well looked after) while I am studying.  Anyway, I was busted while at the sink.  Peter arrived in the kitchen and proceeded to hang over my shoulder as if to say, ’get away from my sink that is my job’.  I really mucked up his routine!

We have come a long way from when washing up and other household chores were considered ‘women’s work’, where gardening etc were considered to be a strictly male domain.  Now males and females work at all manner of tasks.

Meredith (1935, as cited in Leach, 1997) illustrates this when he wrote to his mother about his household experiences as a bachelor in New Zealand in the 1870’s, he said,

               " I have come to the conclusion that there are serious defects in the present system of education; all boys should have to go through a ‘practical course’ instead of being stuffed with a lot of Latin and French" (n.p).

Reference

Meredith, G.L. (1935).Adventuring in Maoriland in the Seventies. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.