Throwing Out the Dish Water

I reckon there’s folks older than me who never lived through what I did—not because they’re soft, just ‘cause they grew up in the city or in one of them fancy suburbs just outside it. But me? I’ve known what it’s like to use an outdoor johnny house and live without indoor plumbing.

Now, it wasn’t at my folks’ place. They both grew up with it, sure, but by the time I came along, they’d moved on up. My time came when I’d visit my grandparents. I remember going out to the hand pump and working that handle ‘til I had a couple gallons of water—either for drinkin’ or washin’. And yep, we had a peepot by the bed—or, if you wanna be proper about it, what the upper crust called a chamber pot.

Now, back to throwin’ out the dishwater. Mamaw kept two wash pans on the counter—one for scrubbin’, one for rinsin’. I’d sometimes help dry the dishes, layin’ ‘em out on a towel right there beside the rinse pan. When the washin’ was all done, Mamaw would haul those pans outside, away from the door, and toss the dirty water. Funny thing—that patch of ground where she tossed it? That’s where me and Papaw used to go dig for fishin’ worms.

Nowadays, all that seems like a real pain. But back then? It was just life. Normal as breathin’.

I hear folks now frettin’ over what’ll happen if inflation gets bad or the grid goes down. Truth is, a lotta folks worry ‘cause they never had to pump their own water or haul out dirty dishwater. I ain’t sayin’ I wanna go back to all that—but I do wish we’d done a better job passin’ down that grit, that get-it-done mindset, to the next generation.

I will say this—my boys might look a little polished to some, maybe even “preppy,” but they work hard. They’re good men. They show up for their families. That’s a good thing to know, as a daddy.

Dryin’ dishes with Mamaw or diggin’ worms with Papaw might not’ve seemed like much, but lookin’ back, it was part of growin’ up right. Built somethin’ in me. And sure, I’ll probably gripe if times get hard—but I won’t sit on my hands.

You don’t have to’ve hauled water to have a survival spirit. You just gotta not be scared to face it when the time comes. And I reckon I’ve got a leg up on some—after all, I’ve thrown out the dishwater.

God bless.