The Danger in Taking Shortcuts

Living in the New York City area in your 20s generally means having a roommate.

Most people find themselves sharing a small, cheaply furnished apartment. The lucky people have one roommate. But others may have two or three.

I don’t mean to disappoint, but the apartment from Friends is nothing like reality.

As most “cheap” New York apartments don’t have a dishwasher, doing the dishes is one of the many hurdles we navigate with our roommates.

After living in the New York metro area for nearly six years,I’ve spent many hours standing over the sink, washing dishes and thinking about life.

After all those hours of kitchen sink philosophy, there’s still one thing I can’t figure out: Why would anyone only wash the top of a plate?

I understand the short sighted thought behind it - my food only touches the top of the plate,so why would I wash the other side?

Or maybe it is the law of diminishing returns? Washing both sides of the plate takes twice as long, but I don’t reap twice the reward.

I’m not sure where everyone stands on this, but you’re probably thinking one of two things:

• “Some people only wash one side of the plate!?” or

• “Who gives a shit? You need to spend less time washing dishes and more time making friends.”

If you’re in the second camp, you may have a point, but hear me out.

In your cabinet, as in your life, everything touches. Plates get stacked, tops touch bottoms.

When you pile your plates in the cabinet, the time you spent washing the tops becomes a waste. The clean tops get soiled by the dirty bottoms.

Every shortcut you take will affect you somewhere else. Just as your plates get dirty from a half-assed washing, your work performance suffers from a lack of sleep.

Your progress in the gym is hindered by your vending machine diet.

You save $10 and 3 hours by not waxing your car, but you spend $500 to get the rust repaired.

I’m not saying you should never take shortcuts. Sometimes shortcuts are a good thing – just make sure to think them through.

The danger isn’t in the shortcut but in the disregard of its secondary effects.

Often you lose more than you gain.

If you have a dishwasher, well, I’m honestly surprised you made it this far.

For the rest of you – always think two moves ahead, run a tight ship, and please, wash the bottom of your plates.