I've been called many things but people get it all wrong. Usually they ask if I'm my brother's sister or sister's sister or mother's daughter. Sometimes it's 'hey, goat lady' or 'oh yea, you're the one that makes cheese from goats'. And my favorite, 'so you're a farmer now?'. In all reality I finished high school, dabbled in different colleges and eventually got my BA but truth be told I am a Professional Dishwasher! I know you're thinking there's no such thing but I am living, breathing (with wrinkly fingers) proof that they do exist. Do you know how to wash dishes? You might think you do. Seventy-five percent of my job is washing dishes and then I still have the house kitchen sink full to do. So I'd say there's a good 99% chance I'm a dishwasher extraordinaire!
While starting the dairy I soon learned about milk proteins and hard to scrub places and places of dishes I've never considered dirty before. I've learned about chemicals and agents, different kinds of sanitizers and powders as well as water samples and contamination. I also learned the hard way that if you don't start with clean water your dishes wont actually, in fact, be 100% clean. Rubber gloves are NOT all equal and acid detergent will eat through anything, including said gloves. Did you know stainless steel will look clean while wet but actually be covered in food stuffs and soils? Did you know bleach water turns into salt water - heck that was a surprise!
There are people who think being a dishwasher is a low-end job and isn't really important in the scale of things but guess what - every kitchen or restaurant you go into is as good as its plates are clean! While working in numerous restaurants in Lexington throughout high school I thought the same. And most of them were pretty happy people and enjoyed their job. Then again they almost always had automated dish washing machines to work with. In short, I wear many hats around here but the one I wear the most is a sweaty brow and rubber gloves. Many, many different pairs of rubber gloves.
There are 5 sinks total in the building. Each room has a separate hand washing sink and two rooms have sinks large enough to wash, rinse and sanitize all sizes of dishes!