To think a grown woman....

[ToTheMax0]

Should be able to know how to operate a dishwasher?
New colleague didn't know how to do it. She stacked it correctly but was then standing around looking stumped. I had to intervene and help.
She is 41!

Unnecessarily bitchy thread.

Hopefully you didn't make her feel like a complete idiot as you were planning your new Mumsnet thread. She may already have felt nervous about starting a new job. You sound awful.

YABU
Not everyone has a dishwasher.
Every dishwasher is different so even if you have one you might need a while to figure out how to use a new one, or even just need to take a moment to decide which programme to run it on.

I had never used a dishwasher before I was 34 and had to use them in holiday apartments I was cleaning. I didn't know they had to have salt topped up and "Klarspüler". I don't even know what it is in English because I never used a dishwasher in the UK.
Someone had to show me how to use them and how to top up the salt and Klarspüler.

I'm well-educated, reasonably intelligent and can do lots of things but...

I can't operate our new microwave (previous one was OK - just turn the dial!). Husband has had to write out simple bullet-point instructions on a card, because I can't keep the complicated sequence of operations in my mind.

I had to give my little Nespresso machine to my son because, although there were only 3 things you had to do, I couldn't get them in the right order without a list.

I hasten to add that I can play the piano and operate washing machines, dishwashers and vacuum cleaners!

I think it's because I'm what's classified as a 'visual' learner. I learn by reading or seeing a picture - NOT by being shown how, and not by doing things. I know there's an old saying. "To do is to understand", but it doesn't work for me. If someone actively demonstrates something, I always get a piece of paper and write things down - I can't learn or remember from a demo. My daughter is just the opposite - she is a 'doer' and everything is always TLDR for her.

Strange - because most people are the other way around!

I console myself with the fact that some very intelligent people aren't great on a practical level.

We're you standing beside me in the office last week OP? 😂

I've never owned one nor lived in a house with one.

Couldn't tell you how to start one.

Judgey cow. We don’t all have dishwashers.

I have a dishwasher but I'm a bit scared of it and treat it more like an overengineered (well it's plumbed in and electrified) cupboard ;)

People might enjoy "Microwave Racing" a two-minute video my friend Dominic created as part of a project we were working on a few years ago.

All microwaves do is heat food but they seem to have so many different features which just complicates things. We've actually used this at a science festival as a game, along with getting people (kids and adults) to try and set an alarm on a clock radio. The project was about the design of medical devices and how the design can affect ease of use and safety.

Jo

She stacked it correctly? According to whom? Queen of dishwasher stacking?

I wouldn't use one in a holiday cottage or at someone's house. I'd just hand wash the dishes instead.

Why not? At the holiday cottage at least. Just wondering.

Don't know really, I've just never felt the need to use a dishwasher. I don't have a big family, there's just me and DS so it takes 5 minutes to wash a couple of plates.

I can think of lots of situations where I have had to interact with dishwashers outside my own house
Well, that's quite unusual for a start.

Agree - I've never owned a dishwasher in my life and no plans to get one

Clearly the OP is being massively U since dishwashers are all different and knowing how to turn one on doesn’t mean you know how to work all of them.

But I’m amazed at the number of people on here who’ve literally never interacted with a dishwasher. 🤯 They’re as standard as a fridge and washing machine here.

I thought we were considered the backward Antipodean country, but we got a dishwasher in 1989 or 1990, and I can only think of one place I’ve lived in since (here, anyway) that didn’t have a dishwasher.

I lived in England for 13 years and even there, each place (except perhaps some of my early backpacking / dossing flats) had a dishwasher.

And sorry, but dishwashers get things sterilised-level clean - they’re definitely more hygienic than hand-washing.

Mind blown by this thread.

It’s really not.

It is though.

I'm trying to think of the last time I saw a dishwasher.

I tend not to hang around in many kitchens so if I've visited a restaurant etc I'm sure they have one but I don't bump into it going to the toilet.

Also, if I visit a friend or families house they don't tend to give me a go of their dishwasher just for fun.

This. Being able to operate a dishwasher does not make you a higher being

I've never owned a dishwasher, but can use the one at work (big b&b) its a beast!
However a domestic one with different settings and timings? not a clue!

I can use a Band saw, soldering iron, sewing machine, overlocker etc, but not a dishwasher, so YABVU and very judgy!

Who the hell is having you operate their dishwashers, @TiedUpWithABlackVelvetBand ?

Well, some of us live in those "dossing flats" all our lives unfortunately. I rent a housing association flat, shockingly they didn't include a dishwasher as standard. Bloody rude of them.

Outside my house?

I interact with one several times a day at work.

Whenever I have dinner at friends’ places, I help load theirs when clearing up after dinner.

And I wouldn’t rent a holiday let without one. 🤷🏻‍♀️

YABU my mum is 78 and doesn't know how to use one.

To reiterate, I still think the OP is being ridiculously U, though.

Helping to load is hardly operating it. Even the woman in the op could do that 😂. I don't do self catering so that's not an issue for me.