I recently discovered that my coworker, J, who is in his early 20s, does not know how to properly wash dishes by hand.

J recently washed a stack of plates that had been “soaking” in the office sink with a scourer and dish soap. The following week, every time I pulled out a plate, I found it was dirty, with food crud and grease on the underside. I was scratching my head. Didn’t J wash these?

Turned out that J had only been washing the top of the plate. Because that’s the only part you have to wash or wipe before putting it in the dishwasher. He had never washed the bottom of a plate before in his life.

He never considered that the bottom of the plate needs to be washed because it gets dirty too. Eg from Food spills, oils and other residue from hands and other surfaces...

I literally had to roll up my sleeves and show him how to hand wash a dish, and that you can’t leave stubborn crud - you have to use elbow grease and get it off.

Really book smart kid otherwise, but omg that blew my mind.

Unfortunately, the talk hasn’t helped... he’s still leaving dishes dirty. FML.