The Honu Speaks

We were using a piece of paper that had the words "clean" and "dirty" that was clipped to a magnetized "chip clip."  When the word "clean" was right side up, it was a message that the dishes in the dishwasher were clean.  And, of course, if the word "dirty" was right-side up, the dishes were dirty.

This sort of things works as long as everyone who loads and unloads the dishwasher abides by the convention that you should spin the little piece of paper around to match the condition of the dishes in the dishwasher when you do anything with them.  It's crude, and it won't win any "Good Housekeeping" awards, but it worked well enough for us.

Then, we took a trip to Kauai.  And Tammy looked at the wares of some vendors at a craft fair.  There it was, a koa wood creation that could replace our ugly, but functional, communication method for dirty and clean dishes.

And that's when the dispute started.

The truly sad part of all of this is that the magnet that is supposed to keep our sign ON the dishwasher is not strong enough to hold it in place.  Perhaps it would have been better if the product were tested to find this problem? So, it sits on near the wall on the counter above the dishwasher.  We can deal with that, but it would have been nice if it would have worked as intended.  But that's not where the dispute lies.

The piece of wood that is cut in the image of a sea turtle, or honu, can be moved to two different positions.  In effect, the honu speaks and it can tell us whether the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty.  In this case, the issue does not lie with the functionality of the honu to tell us truly how our dishes fare.  

The problem is a matter of interpretation.

Or more specifically, our differing interpretations.

One of us argued that the where the honu resides is the answer to the question.  If the honu is on the left, where the word "clean" is found, then the dishes are clean.  If it is on the right, where the word "dirty" is, then the dishes are dirty.  The other believed that the word that is visible gives us the answer.  Almost as if the word is being spoken in a cartoon-like word bubble.

Communication broke down for a time and there was confusion.  Should I put the dishes away or should I put more dirty dishes in?  The confused individual usually would just load up a few more dishes and run it, even if the dishes were already clean.  Our household was in danger of washing our dishes into non-existence.

If only the honu would speak more clearly, our problems would be solved.   Or maybe we could just get that piece of paper back out. 

The good news is that the dispute was settled and harmony now resides once again in the Genuine Faux Farm kitchen.  The honu speaks.  We listen.  And we understand.