Dishwasher Pete first started a zine documenting his idea of washing dishes in every state within North America. This landed him a very large readership, over six references on This American Life on NPR, and several zines over the span of over a decade. I first started this interview about a month or so ago, and was lucky enough to catch Dishwasher Pete on the road promoting his book, answering other interviews, and speading the word about his memior Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in all 50 States. This is a good read before you head out to your local bookstore.
I first envisioned the quest as a young, novice dish dog while alongside a couple seasoned pros. They were boasting of all the places where they’d dished and I simply felt left out. In just a span of seconds, I got the idea to wash dishes everywhere-it’d give me an impetus to get moving plus provide a practical way afford the traveling.
The idea to write about it came from the fact that a few friends were also washing dishes. They were writing me letters about their experiences and I thought that we should compile all our tales in a little booklet or publication. At that point, I was completely oblivious to the existence of zines. It was a fellow dishman who explained that what I was talking about-a simply, photocopied, self-published periodical devoted to an offbeat topic-was indeed a zine.
Well, everyone seems to find it amazing that I ate so many leftovers off of customers’ plates when the plates were brought to the dishpit. It’s not something I ever really thought much about at the time-just something I did. But a lot of readers find it both unbelievable and disgusting for some reason.
Well, physically, it took me all over the country-from a remote fishing village in Alaska to the mountains of Vermont to the countryside of Missouri to the hearts of most major American cities. And that’s exactly what I wanted from the quest when I first envisioned it. But dishwashing gave me topic with which to express myself through writing-the result of which is the book.
The best states to work in are any where waitstaff are paid the full minimum wage (like California or Oregon). In too many states, the waitstaff are paid a sub-minimum wage under the pretext that the tips they receive constitute a part of their wage. In the states where they are paid the full minimum wage, they are far more likely to “tip out” (share their tips with) the dishwasher. In the barbaric states that pay sub-minimum wages, “tip outs” are just about unknown.
Usually I lasted for a paycheck or two or three-enough money to get me moving and out of town. I rarely, if ever, told employers about the quest. I did have to mention it when trying to get hired on the dinner train in Rhode Island. They already had a dishwasher and thus didn’t need me. But it was my only chance to dish on a train so I admitted the quest and the writing. That got me hired.
Oh, I live a pretty simple life. I like to read and walk and ride my bike. I like to work as little as possible. There isn’t much more about me that’s not in the book.
Lots of the material written for the zine was never given all that it was due. Usually I never even proofread it, let alone edited it. So I was excited to revisit it all with an eye to use the material for the book. In addition to the old published zine material, I had plenty of material written for the zine that was never used. And a number of friends loaned me the letters I’d written to them during my quest years. Add to that, more than a decade of hundreds of scraps of paper with little notes written on them. I sat down with all of the above and spent a year writing it all into a single, cohesive 350-page story. And I’m very happy with the results.
The first one-as described in the book-came about because I couldn’t find a job in New Orleans (where, as a white guy, I’d been warned due to institutional racism, I would find it difficult-if not impossible-to find a dish gig). I needed the cash to get moving again and saw the ad in the newspaper for human research subjects. That was a weekend-long stint and paid about $150. I soon learned that there was a whole network of professional guinea piggers and did a few more studies in Baltimore and outside Chicago. But it’s something I haven’t done in the last eight years.
The book tour has been going great. I’m surprised by how comfortable I am at speaking in front of an audience. I’ve also been surprised by the large turnout at almost every reading. I’ve already done New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Olympia, Washington. Still to come are readings in Seattle, Oakland, Sacramento and then back home in Amsterdam.
Sometimes-like at the fish cannery in Alaska or the ski resorts in Vermont and Montana or the oil rig off the Louisiana coast or the summer camp in California-employers provided housing. But usually I just crashed on the couches and floors of friends and acquaintances. I also had a couple vans that I slept in while traveling in them.
Yes. When the print run reached 10,000-while still just living out of a duffel bag-I could no longer keep up with the demand. Photocopying and/or printing the zines, distributing them, writing accompanying letters-it got to be too much so I just froze up all together. So that’s one reason why I’m excited about writing books. All that printing and distributing and whatnot is completely out of my hands and leaves me free to just concentrate on writing.
Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in all 50 States is my memoir about the twelve years (1989-2001) that I spent traveling the nation as an itinerant dish dog. To describe the book, some reviewers have used words like “humorous” and “amusing” while others used words like “provocative” and “charming.” When my friend Jake read it, his only comment was that it made him want to drink a beer.
To all the pearl divers, suds busters and dish pigs out there, don’t let the bastards get you down!
Learn more about Dishwasher Pete here.
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