Washing up is an artform |
Rupert Hawksley has narrated this article for you to listen to.
Right, who’s doing the washing up? It’s 6 p.m. on Christmas Day and the table, which was meticulously set for 12, is now a mess of paper hats, gravy spills and glasses – so, so many glasses. Just don’t go into the kitchen, where you’ll find, in no order at all: six saucepans (unsoaked), 12 plates, one grater, 12 bowls, three baking trays, two sieves, four ceramic dishes, one warm turkey carcass and at least 17 bone-handled knives which absolutely cannot go in the dishwasher. There are vague murmurings that someone should probably do something about it.
I hate to say it, but if you haven’t done any of the basting or the chopping or the stirring, that person is you. But this is not a skivvy’s job. Pay no attention to George Orwell’s derogatory description of ‘greasy dishwashers’........