Unintended consequences

Our new dishwasher demonstrates an enormous technical advancement over our previous, twenty-year-old model.

Because new materials are better at heat and sound insulation, the insulation in the new dishwasher is thinner. For the same cabinet space, there is quite a bit more room for dirty dishes. This means we don't have to run it as often.

Furthermore, it takes advantage of enzymatic cleaning technology. The enzymatic cleaners mean that you don't have to rinse dishes off before you load them in the dishwasher.

Unfortunately, there were some unintended consequences.

First, the enzymatic cleaner smells funny. It isn't horrible, but it does smell funny. I don't like funny smells.

Second, with just the two of us with our busy schedules, we don't fill up the dishwasher very fast. We fill it up about every three days. Remember that we don't have to rinse dishes in order for the dishwasher to get the dishes clean, and think about what milk smells like after three days at room temperature. Pretty nasty. I really don't like nasty smells.

The upshot is that -- even with this wonderful technology which removes the requirement of rinsing dishes before putting them in -- we rinse the dishes before putting them in.

Sigh.

Ducky Sherwood