Raise Teacher Wages So They Can Afford Dishwashers

When I am fresh out of college, I get a job teaching high school. Educator pay being what it is, I share an apartment with another new teacher who teaches biology. We split chores, with him taking over cleaning the bathroom. For that, he has a special sponge that he uses for everything, including the toilet.

We are supposed to do our own dishes, but being stereotypical guys, we often let them pile up in the sink. On one occasion, when we have dirtied every dish in the place and are each waiting for the other one to blink and do them all, we are visited by three friends — one man, two women — who have lived in the apartment building near us for a few months.

We are talking in the living room when the man slips away. I think he is going to the bathroom, but then I hear a dish noise in the kitchen. I go to check.

Friend: “Oh, hey. I’m just doing some dishes for you. I know how they can pile up.”

However, he is using the bathroom sponge to clean them!

I have two choices: stop him and still have filthy dishes, or keep my mouth shut. I opt for the latter.

Later, I mention it to my biologist roommate.

Roommate: “Well, the danger is really more psychological than actual.”

But for the next few weeks, we poured boiling water over each item before we used it.