Dishing on Meaningful Work, Finding Your Passion, and Loving Your Job
Professional dishwashers open up about pride in their work, being valued, wages, physical and mental breakdowns, and more.
A culture that funnels its dreams of self-actualization into salaried jobs is setting itself up for collective anxiety, mass disappointment, and inevitable burnout. — Derek Thompson, On Work
I asked dishwashers in an online forum…
What's your reaction when you hear people talk about doing what you love, finding meaning in your work, and following your passion?
Their responses are excerpted below. Let’s hear from you in the Comments: Did any surprise you? What can we learn from input like this? Do these responses jibe with your work experience?
1.
My passion is to have a place to live and food to eat... I never looked to work for fulfilment or passion. That’s for my life outside of work.
2.
I loved my kitchen and I had amazing co-workers (management wasn't so fun tho) and I met people from so many walks of life that taught me some lessons but the best part was I felt like I had my kingdom 5 hours a day.
3.
Being truly fulfilled by a job or making a living with your passion is extremely rare. Of all the “shi⍿” jobs (by which I mean unpleasant or grueling) I personally enjoy washing dishes. It could be considered an act of selflessness or a way of caring for others to do something few want to do. All that said, I think dishwashers (and all food service employees, and hell all laborers in general) deserve to be paid and treated far better than they are.
4.
I have another job as a teacher, but I’ve washed dishes since I was old enough to have a job... To me, washing dishes is a nice release from school...
5.
I’ve only ever worked in kitchens from 17 (33 now) and I went to college (television broadcasting) then uni for history and never was able to find myself after… I feel so drained and consumed by the two kitchen jobs I have…
6.
Dishwashing is one of the very few jobs I can do. I have dyslexia which makes it hard to read and write so I'm not able to work in an office or anywhere reading and writing is necessary but I've come to terms with it and I like my job. I'm appreciated; I got employee of the month a while ago.
7.
Earning money to sustain my existence is my passion.
8.
I take pride in my work and hold the reputation of not necessarily being the fastest, but nothing is handed back to me to scrub or spray further.
9.
I say that I work to be able to live and that I don't dream of labor.
Above, a dishwasher makes music (see Heigh Ho’s How Music Affects Work and Workers). Used with permission by RyoKaru. Visit his YouTube channel.
10.
Previously I did work at a job I loved and was good at. I made decent money but the stress and drama took a toll on my mental and physical health. Dishwashing itself isn't a rewarding job, for me personally. It's lonely, doesn't pay enough, and the days are long... But my days off are finally my days off and I can spend time with my family and hobbies without my job living rent-free in my head.
11.
If I could make a good living washing dishes without destroying my body, I wouldn't mind doing this for a long time.
12.
I like physical work and being away from people, so this works out fine. I thrive in chaos…
I like the feeling at the end of the night where everything is spotless and shiny where it was a gross disaster a few hours ago.
I found a place that pays well and treats me well too…
13.
I hate “You will find your passion.” My passion is to earn money to live, and my dream job is a job I tolerate…
14.
I don't enjoy dishwashing. The shi⍿ definitely rolls downhill for those who don't respect the "lower" positions… So is it my passion in any shape or form? No. Do I find meaning in it? Nope. Nothing about it satisfies me. It's just an income and I have a good grasp of it.
When I get restless and burnt out I quit and find someplace else… I do not care anymore. I keep sane by having some sort of pride in my work and my process. And sometimes I ponder and write essays in my head while I clean.
15.
For awhile I thought people looked at me and were impressed to see a young woman do a dirty job right… But I began to hate it when I realized that I wasn’t being valued. When people told me to “just do it faster,” when cooks launched sheet pans at my pit because they were in a bad mood, and when servers left buckets of old dishes and promised to come back but then never did… that’s when it started to feel like one shi⍿⍿y @ss job.
16.
It doesn't pay for shi⍿. Which is what's made something I love doing into a f*cking job. F*ck capitalism.
17.
A dishwasher who takes pride in their work makes sure their dishes are always clean, dry, and stored properly.
18.
There is a certain charm to be the provider of order in the midst of chaos.
19.
As someone who is autistic I find the job a good productive use of my energy…
20.
My passion is dishwashing or other laborious repetitive work that can be made easy through systems, efficiency, and finesse. I just want to put in an honest day’s work. I've loved dishwashing and am back to it after a mental breakdown… My favorite job ever was at a factory stamping heavy metal parts. It was team based and I had fun everyday while going hard as hell breaking my body.
21.
“Do what you love and you’ll feel like you never worked a day in your life” has never meant anything to me… From what I’ve gathered from those who see the kitchen as their career, I don’t think any of them would say their love of the work balances out how “worked” they feel.
22.
If you enjoy your job you won’t work a day in your life.
Amplifying Workers’ Voices
From the get-go, I’ve intended for Heigh Ho to include workers’ voices. After 25+ years in roles tasked to advance employee wellbeing, I now try to stay abreast by reading journal articles, whitepapers, LinkedIn posts, and books; watching videos; and listening to podcasts. Workers’ voices are consistently absent, which should raise doubts about the credibility of the tales we tell regarding employee experience and wellbeing.
I’m grateful to the dishwashers who shared freely for this post. Subscribers will increasingly find worker input in Heigh Ho.
My sincere thanks to friends and colleagues who lent their voices to the voiceover/podcast version of today’s edition of Heigh Ho (click on the player at the top of this post to listen):
(author of one of my fave Substacks,),(author of one of my other fave ‘stacks,); and Colin Bullen (whose audio clip I sadly was unable to use due to a tech glitch), a loyal ambassador for Heigh Ho and Founder + Director of Virtuositeam.New York Times Gift article
(No paywall through October 17, 2023, compliments of Heigh Ho)
They Quit Their Jobs. Their Ex-Employers Sued Them for Training Costs. Workers who sign training repayment agreements can owe their employers thousands of dollars if they leave their jobs early. Regulators are starting to crack down on the practice.
Thanks for this piece. As someone who has indeed washed dishes for a living, mostly enjoyed it and certainly took pride in it I really appreciated reading this in all of its complexity.
I met one person who loved their job so much he couldn't believe he was getting paid for doing it. He was a high school drama teacher.
Fascinating to see what these people who wash dishes for a living have to say about this.
Otherwise I know very few people who find their jobs a source of pleasure and meaning.
The one job I had that was meaningful to me was a wellness coordinator for an environmental organization. It was voluntary, so I didn't get paid, but you know how activists are...
I designed and implemented the whole thing, and still firmly believe that wellness and self care are crucial parts of activism.