# World's Worst Dish Washer



## fontzmark (Aug 13, 2000)

Who has the worst all round dish washer, pot scrubber, dish dog, bubble puppy? Our dog "minumum"(his nickname, the opposite of "Maximus..the movie, ya know?)is the s l o w e s t moving person in Illinois, from what I have seen. This guy can't knock out 40 covers by himself, let alone take out the trash, scrub the floors, etc., etc. Most every night someone has to go and bail him out, sometimes the chef/owner,( I hate to see that!) myself, or, I have to send one of my guys to the hole to dig him out. Is it like this everywhere? I don't mind helping the guy out but since we, the cooks already have to clean the entire kitchen, do the floors, the trash, clean the sinks, the equipment, then someone has to bail him out because he is so far behind servers are stacking stuff up all over the kitchen, I keep preaching to him, encouraging him, suggesting to him, hollaring at him and nothing works, when he is in the weeds, I don't care how far I can get him out in less than 20 minutes, I keep telling him, it's not a pretty job, you just have to get in there and get ugly and get it done but nothing helps, what do you do? Granted there is more to this scenerio than I should probably post in a forum like this. I feel for the guy, I really do, he is a good guy, will and has always been on time, does not break much stuff, doesn't say much, unless you are talking to him, and for the most part does what you ask of him, he is just so slow and unorganized in the dish room it's making me mental, I think I have tried just about everything, any suggestions?
Overall, on a scale of 1-10, the fact that he shows up on time is worth 5 points, 1 for effort, 1 for eventually getting the job done, I guess a 7, the only thing keeping him for being a great employee is the dishroom, he also is the "janitor" and cleans the front of the house, he does those jobs great. How does your bubble puppy rate?


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## shimmer (Jan 26, 2001)

Ours always comes in late, and then immediately goes to smoke. But he's good at what he does. Dishwashers have to take a lot of stuff that nobody else has to.

I thought of some things that we did to help that might help yours

On weekends, have another person come in in the evenings to help with the extra stuff.

Train the wait staff to make organized piles, it doens't take much longer, and it saves time all around (dinner plates, salad bowls, cups).

Reserve the big pans in another sink until the end of the night, unless they will be needed again that day. Scrubbing out burned potatoes takes a long time, and might be wasting time.

~~Shimmer~~


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## fontzmark (Aug 13, 2000)

Thanks for the ideas, you are right they put up with a lot. I have tried most of your ideas, the servers walk all over the guy and he is just too nice of a guy to get on them about helping him organize, our stuff stays in back til the end of the night usually. He needs another guy!, but the owners won't pay another person so that is out. We'll think of something, he shows up on time way too much to give up on him! What kind of nick names does every body have for the dish guy?


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## coolj (Dec 12, 2000)

It's difficult to rate the dishwashwers where I work, because we have about 8 on the schedule. I've never heard of DW's refered to as dish dogs or bubble puppies though, we usually call them pit pigs. I do understand what you mean though about slow dishwashers.


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## dlee (Sep 22, 2000)

[ July 23, 2001: Message edited by: Dlee ]


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## dlee (Sep 22, 2000)

fontzmark,

The "stewards" that work with me are the best. Always on time, does everything asked of them and more. I make sure that they always have enough cleaning products on hand etc. I also make sure that the wait staff put the right "china" and "silverware" where they are to be.

The thing is their job stinks. I do everything to uplift them and anyone who gives the stewards a hard time, gets a hard time from me.

D.Lee

[ July 23, 2001: Message edited by: Dlee ]


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## pastachef (Nov 19, 1999)

Dlee, you sound like such a nice person. Bubble Puppies? Pit Pigs? I run the whole operation of my kitchen including the dishes. Come on, guys, be nice  LOL!


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

i think that dish pgs have the hardest job of all. Consider that they do all of the washing regardless of it being the FOH/BOH and have to wash for the whole restaurant.

I started as a kitchenhand and kept going. However you have people from all walks of life doing this job as a means of generating money.

I.e, i once had an exceptionally hopeless KH, due to his background being a professor/PHD in physics in his home land. Another KH i have is studying his masters in agricultural economics.

Face it, sometimes these ppl are (in a theoretical sense) much smarter than i or perhaps you and that they can be out of their element.

So considering the job that they do on hand, envisage yourself lecturing in astral physics or quantum dynamics, and see if you do a reasonable job (and remember im not saying superlative).


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## nancya (Apr 30, 2001)

I have hesitated posting here 'cause I don't work in a restaurant, but I have been a dishwasher in my day.

I agree with Eddie, and would like to add that any employee who does not feel that his or her work is valued, or that he or she is valued as a person, is not likely to want to try to do a good job at whatever he or she does. It is the bosses job to set the tone.


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## elakin (Jan 12, 2001)

i know you said you've tried everything, but i'm not sure if you showed him how to properly manage the dish area. it was mentioned what wait staff could do to make his job easier, but it's not your dish's responsibility to enforce that rule. you should get on your FOH staff about that or have the FOH manager do it. 

in addition to having waiters stack plates in an organized way (and dump the food off of them first) you should have a bin of soapy water for silverware, racks for glasses, separate areas for where to dump FOH vs. BOH dirty stuff. help your guy to organize. a lot of people do not have the organizing and prioritizing skills that come from good education. i've worked with many people who just do things in exactly the order they are given them instead of looking around and doing 5 quick things before they move on to the longer jobs. help him to understand what you need back quick and what he can do later. 

by the way we just always call them "the dish" but i worked with an italian guy who grew up in london who always called them the "washing-up" guy or just "washing-up."

i'm not a big fan of the derisive nicknames. you've got to respect your dishwasher even if they do have to do the "pig" work. i think tossing around these kind of nicknames kind of shows disrespect and might breed some resentment from employees. who knows, maybe he's just moving slow on purpose just because he senses your feelings of superiority to him and he's trying to get you back. i've worked with plenty of these kind of guys, too, who, for whatever reason, harbor a resentment for "the man," and decide that they'll just do a kind of strike slow-down as some kind of a protest. (this, i must say, always get's me, especially when working for independent restaurants...just to designate your boss as "the man" and therefore see them as the enemy.)

i have no idea if any of this is the case with you, fontz, just putting it out there.


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## pastachef (Nov 19, 1999)

EVERY job in a kitchen is important, because it all comes together to create one large picture. I actually enjoy scrubbing and sanitizing my dishes, because sparkling plates, etc. is the first step in a beautiful presentation of the food


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## fontzmark (Aug 13, 2000)

I have tried about everything, thing is where the dish is, it can't really be seen so I can't get on servers much about helping him, they do it right for a bit then slip back. I realy don't think the disher harbors and ill feelings about anything, I consider him a friend and hope he does the same. Like I said, this guy would be the perfect employee, if only he could do dishes faster, I wouldn't help the guy if I didn't like/respect him, I am just worried he feels there will always be someone there to come and bail him out and I want him to be able to do the job on his own, so my goal for the day is to start working on the servers and stay on them until they get it right.


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## pastachef (Nov 19, 1999)

Hi Fontzmark, How well do you know this guy? I've seen a few slow achievers and there could be other problems. One guy I know is brilliant, (an artist) and mentally quick, but he has epilepsy and there is some reason (unproven why) that he is slow about any kind of work no matter how hard he tries to get faster. Another person that I know is mentally on the ball but has cerebral palsy. If she had not been born into our family I never would recognize it, but she's slow at doing things too. I hope you get things worked out.


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## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

Number One - I agree with Ediie 100% on the respect issue. You know that the BOH has pitched in, but what about the FOH -- once they've been in the DW's shoes -- they'll think twice about how they stack, soak or scrape. Incentives? Get X amount done then your break? 

Number Two - bad dishwashers -- worked with 2 - one had narcolepsy and fall to sleep hosin down the dishes, always made for an interesting day -- and the second filed a union grievence against me for writing him up for not washing the bottom of the dishes (afterall, that's not where the food goes!) - as he puts 1 pan nesting inside of another!


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

They're called DMO's these days  I think that's the politically correct thing. One of my guys successfully applied for a job at a factory because he had two years of experience as a machine operator (dish) with a sanitation license! At least that's what he says.

It's hard to change a person's pace. Even if they're physically capable sometimes they're unwilling to work faster. Sometimes 15 minutes of stacking and organizing on one end can make a lot of difference... dishwasher "mise en place" so to speak 

Kuan


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## papa (Oct 5, 2001)

Dear FontzMark:

I understand your frustration.

How about making this guy's job a little more interesting? Set some achievable daily goals and reward him for achieving them. By evaluating his operation, you might find that you are expecting more than a sole person is capable of giving you. By setting achievable goals with bonuses you will take the boredom away from his job. People love to have something to look to as a target to achieve. A bonus rewarding such achievements is definitely more economical than hiring a second person.

I sympathize with dish washers because they perform a truly important function in kitchen management. A lot depends on how fast or good they are. Their job is monotonus and boring. Setting some goals might bring some excitement into their daily routine.


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## elakin (Jan 12, 2001)

whoa?! the dishwasher's union? didn't know they had that. you work in a big hotel?


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## lynne (Oct 6, 2001)

Nope -- food & beverage workers union -- on a college campus.

Now I do the B&B -- I am my own best (and worst!) dishwaher LOL!


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## pastachef (Nov 19, 1999)

Incentives of any kind are wonderful, Papa. I like that idea a lot. Lynne, do you work at a college too?


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