There’s a couple of things that I can’t ever live without anymore as a First Worlder, regardless of how insane that might sound to people who have it worse. When I say can’t I obviously mean ‘I really really really don’t want to‘ even though it definitely wouldn’t actually kill me, but you catch my drift.
It’s things like my dishwasher.
I will never go back to doing dishes by hand. Even though I have these slap-in-the-face-realisations that it’s horrendous to think like that while I live in a world where people have to do dishes by hand every day. Hell. In a world where people don’t even HAVE dishes. Hellll. In a world where people don’t HAVE dishes OR anything (like food) they could use them for.
Yet – I fucking hate doing dishes even in light of the terrible lives of others. So I still view it as a necessity to own a dishwasher. Insane but true.
I mean: we grow SO accustomed to our lucky lifestyles so fucking fast that losing grip on reality becomes an actual serious issue.
I could totally do without a dishwasher. But I don’t want to, or feel that I should. And I live in a world where that is seen as a normal need to have. No problem.
Same goes for my bathtub that lives next to my shower. I don’t wanna live bathless life ever again. While there’s people that haven’t bathed in months. Or at all. Or my Smart TV. While there’s people who only have the rats and roaches as entertainment. My five different perfumes in a world where there’s people living in the stench of a sewer.
And as much as I like to think that I feel enough happiness for the things I have. That I am grateful enough for the life I was granted just merely based on where I was born. That I am considerate enough for those who have it worse and that I’m kind enough to share the joys…I know that that can’t possibly be the case.
Because I don’t even know what I could be missing. I have no concept of how bad it could be. And I still find myself yelling at the dishwasher when a bowl comes out of it with a smudge. I live in a life of luxury problems and I fear that the worst of them is that I’m not even inclined to solve that.
I feel like my lack of guilt in that regard makes me a horrible person while simultaneously feeling very strongely about not having to/wanting to feel guilty about something I can’t solve or control. It’s an interesting duality, no?
I guess feeling bad about living a luxurious life is also a luxury problem. Damnit. Spoiled to the bone.
Rather than guilt, gratitude is more than enough. And if you want to help others, try Effective Altruism. https://www.effectivealtruism.org/
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I love washing dishes. Ive had dishwashers and theyre fine but nothing beats a full sink done by hand ☺️ Dont beat yourself up. We all do it in our own ways haha
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Handwashing dishes together can me sudsy fun. Slippery and…
Yeah. Handwashing alone is a drag.
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When I was living in a small village in Vietnam in 1964/65, the women and girls on our street used to carry the dirty dishes town a steep dirt path and hunker down in the mud to wash the dishes in the brown river water. When I returned thirty years later, they took me down to the river and proudly showed me their big improvement. A girl was hunkering down and washing dishes in the brown river water, just as her mother and grandmother had done, but now she didn’t have to hunker in the mud because they had built a set of stone and concrete steps and a ramp leading down to the river.
https://operasandcycling.com/thirty-years-later-tan-ba-1995/
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Wow. Damn. Yeah. That’s exactly the disconnect that I mean. That’s just…wow!
Lovely photos and story btw!!
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Thanks.
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I guess we are all guilty of being lazy or annoyed about doing certain household chores such as dish washing. However I have to just suck it up and Wash the dishes 😢
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Agree, never want to go bathtub-less, but I have changed my mind about hand washing. I have decided to use my grandmother’s silver and China because after me no one will give a damn. I love using the china and silver because it reminds me of her. Totally worth washing them and my collection of tumblers that keep my tea hot on the way to work.
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As a Third Worlder, can I just say that washing dishes by hand is almost therapeutic to me. In fact, it’s the best activity for anger management. Scrubbing extra greasy pans can sometimes instantly dim you down. 😛
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You, really, are funny!
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But it’s okay, I get your drift😂
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I went 2 years without a bathtub, and I fully concur. Still washing dishes by hand, but it’s bread which is too big to fit in the toaster that is my biggest 1st world problem. People live it huts with no access to clean water and all I do is shout at my less than perfect crumpled toast!
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I hate washing dishes, but I don’t have a dishwasher. They get smelly if they’re not cleaned out occasionally, and I’m so lazy I hate the thought of having to clean out a skanky dishwasher even more than washing dishes by hand!
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I always wash my dishes. I don’t know but I think that dish washers don’t do the job properly. May be I have OCD!! And also I’m used to it. Because in my country, having a dish washer is quite luxurious..
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Pre rinse or just in dirty. Takeaways solve ever washing dishes until restaurants open again. But then its which restaurant, first world problems. To much choice.
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Try washing up without using your thumbs 👍 It adds a whole new dimension to washing the dishes and it’s harder than you would think 😂
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Guilt is such a useless emotion.. enjoy what you have and being mindful about these things is a great feeling 😀
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Lol I myself probably can’t live without the air-conditioner. I’ve thought about this before too, and I grew up not needing it. And now I do.
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At least you know you’re living in luxury. I’m very fond of my giant closet.
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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I have to agree with you on this one.. I went from having a dishwasher to going without for years.. The struggle is real.. Same with the bath.. I love a good soak every now and then. It’s amazing that you recognize the first world problems and are grateful for what you have though so don’t beat yourself up
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It’s okay to like what you like. Someone will always have it worse and better than you. Enjoy your luxuries in life!
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“I Feel Like My
Lack Of Guilt
Makes me A Horrible
Person”
Okay May
Your Penance
Be Always to
Share
Your
Happiness
The Dead Shall
Bury Their Own
Compassion
May Lift
Instead of
Falling in Deed🙌😊
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