Washing Dishes

Washing dishes- pretty common thing to do. Our household washes them every day. I don't know the reason, then, that my parents make such a big fuss out of it. They pass on the chore like it's a time bomb. "IT'S YOUR TURN TO WASH THE DISHES TONIGHT," they'd remind me. Which is fine, of course. I don't mind washing the dishes- in fact, I wouldn't care if I had to wash them every night. The only thing which pisses me off, however, is the way my Mum says it, and the expression she wears whilst saying so.

Now you all probably think I'm making a big fuss out of nothing- does it matter how something is said? Who cares if her expression was disagreeable? Well to be honest with you, expression and tone is one of the main ways I communicate. My friends can call me a faggot and the smile on their face and the tone in which they say it will let me know that they're joking. So when my own mother taunts and sneers at me to do the dishes--- a giant bubble of "WTF" just builds up inside me. Was it really necessary to do that?

So God forgive me if I roll my eyes and she blows up like a nuke.

My roommate, understanding that dishes are just another trivial aspect of life- washes the dishes for me every so often. He did that for me today. Dad stormed into my room afterwards, once again barging through my poor door, and yells at me, "WHY DON'T YOU WANT TO DO THE DISHES." Infuriated, I yell back, "OKAY, I'LL DO THEM NOW."
"WHAT'S THE POINT, YOU SAY THAT WHEN [my roommate] HAS ALREADY WASHED MOST OF THEM."

...Well what's the point in all this yelling then, if he's already done them?

Later, my roommate talks to me about my parents, and he laughs at their reactions. "Did you see her?" he'd crack up, referring to the expression my mother wore. See, I'm not the only one. But whilst I do agree with him that my parents are a little...uh, expressive, at times, it was still horribly embarrassing to have someone point that out. Even if my roommate is a good friend of mine. It got worse as he told me about this time, when he began to wash the dishes, and my Dad physically pulled him away from the sink, went to my room and told me to come out and wash the dishes.

See, the main reason I end up not doing the dishes is because I don't stay at the table for long enough. You can't wash anything if people are still eating, right? As a rule I try to finish my meal as fast as possible, then I try to retreat back into my room. Why? Because it minimizes contact and interaction with my parents. Sure, I'm side-stepping the problem and avoiding them isn't going to solve anything- but I've outgrown my earlier naivete, thinking that talking will make things better. Heh, can you imagine, I once thought that my parents would be reasonable and talk to me. No, Mum just gets overly emotional about everything I say, starting to raise her voice to an unbearable pitch whilst Dad laughs at all my comments dismissively.

....Anyway, I've stuck a sign on my door, saying "knock before you enter." I wonder what the consequences of that will be. Oh, I'm not hoping for it to have any positive effect- if anything it'll probably enrage my parents- they'll say things like THIS IS MY HOUSE I GO WHERE I WANT YOU'RE MY CHILD WHY DO YOU NEED PRIVACY WHAT YOU MIGHT BE CHANGING WELL I WIPED YOUR ASS WHEN YOU WERE A KID AND THERE'S NOTHING I HAVEN'T SEEN. But what am I supposed to do? The sign's worth a try--- it can't get much worse than it is now.

I don't blame the dishes, to be honest. Stuff like this is bound to happen, given the people involved. If it's not dishes it'll be something else. This is just... what things are like.

By the way- did I mention that we have a dish washer?

One that works, in fact. Uses less water than we do through hand-washing the dishes.