In the final pages of Dishwasher Pete Jordan finally decides to give up the whole dish gig and retires. He made it to dishing in a total of thirty three states, Gulf Shores, Alabama being his last. He is now a retired man. Three days later he’s already eighty miles away and back in school. One year later he and his girlfriend, Amy Joe, get married on a ferry boat crossing the San Francisco Bay. Pete and his wife move to Amsterdam were he is studying and decide they wanted to stay so Pete applies for a citizenship making Amsterdam their new home. But everything does not go as smoothly as planned; Pete cannot find work since he is American and fears he and his wife will be forced to move back to the states. You see that Pete finally reaches a point where he is tired of coming home with the same new of his bad luck forcing him to make a serious choice. He decides he will dish again. Pete prints up flyers and goes to restaurant after restaurant looking for a job but he is turned down time after time. He is confused, he has more than enough qualifications to work at any of the restaurants, it even says so on his flyer but yet no one will hire him. Finally he meets a kitchen manager at an Australian themed restaurant who sets him strait, he tells Pete if he’s older than twenty-three “I’d have to pay you the full minimum wage. But if I hire a sixteen-year-old to wash the dishes, I pay him a minimum wage that’s half yours” (358). Pete takes this in and thinks “So it’d come to this. Not only was I not qualified to do anything else, but the one thing I could do, I was now overqualified for. In the city where many Americans go to indulge in their vices like pot-smoking and legalized prostitution, I found myself cut off from my own vice, cold turkey (353). This is an ironic ending; in the beginning of this book dishwashing was made out to be an easy low skill job that anyone could do. Pete takes his dishing jobs for granted, they come and go without a second thought but now when he’s actually in serious need of a dish job he is no longer “qualified” to get the job that was once second nature to him.

Jordan, Pete. Dishwasher : One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. New York: HarperPerennial, 2007.

Dishwasher Post: 5

Just because you have money does not mean you have manners; this is one of the lessons Pete Jordan learns in this section of Dishwasher. Pete is currently dishing at a costly lodge in the mountains of Colorado. Here he encounters some wealthy vacationers that often tend to wear on his last nerve. As he is bussing he has many near collisions with the “wealthy snobs” (108), he says “I didn’t understand. Did these rich arrogant pricks really expect me to meekly yield to them? Did they also expect me to curtsy while I was at it? (108). After all of the different places and people Pete has been exposed to through his dish jobs I would expect him to be able to handle himself better in situations such as these. Granted the people might be acting rude, but I still feel he could be more professional about how he acts around them. It is just a part of the career he has chosen.

In a latter area of Pete’s travels he gets a chance to view the opposite side of the spectrum. Now instead of being looked down on because of his job he is being considered too good to be hired as a disher. He is instead offered positions as a waiter due to the fact he is white. In the areas of the country he is in dishing is considered to be a job for colored and Hispanic people. When he finally finds a job the manager puts Pete as the head dishwasher putting him in charge of others who had been there much longer than him. Pete says “Head dishwasher? Me? I barely managed to be the head of myself, let alone heading anyone else (127). You really get a sense of the different cultures in the different parts of the country. One minute people a low life, the next he’s looked up on.

Jordan, Pete. Dishwasher : One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. New York: HarperPerennial, 2007.

Dishwasher: Post 4

“Alaska—the Last Frontier—was, for me, the First Frontier in my new traveling dishwasher adventure” (59), says Pete Jordan in his book Dishwasher. The decision is final now and Pete has set off on the first of his many journeys on his quest to wash dishes in all fifty states. Alaska is just the beginning of this quest; so far he has dished in places such as Denver Colorado, Utah, Saint Louis, Atlanta, New Hampshire, and Los Angeles. Although, his travels are not all fun and care free; he is faced with a diverse group of people who don’t always react to him quite as nicely as he would like. This first happens to him with his girlfriend, Melanie. The end of summer is fast approaching and Pete is planning on going on trip that he invites her to accompany him on. Melanie’s parents urge her otherwise instead telling her to finish college and dump her boyfriend, Pete. They feel he is just a dishwashing bum with no future; he describes them as being “born-again Christian parents” (71). Pete deeply disagrees with them for he isn’t a bum, he has a job and a well paying one that he feels he is quite good at. Even so in by summers end Melanie gives into her parents and dumps him. Although Pete is a pretty content care-free guy you see that he still cares some of what others think about him. He dislikes being insulted about his career choice; because although he’s no doctor or scientist he’s still a working adult just living life in a different way. I think he has to learn not to take the negative things that others might say about him so personally, its part of life and if he likes what he’s doing than that’s all that really matters. Even so the ending of this relationship really ends all ties that might have been holding Pete down; in a way this has given him his freedom to go on pursuing his fantasies.

He says “It was exciting to wake up in the van, stare at the ceiling and struggle to figure out where in the nation I was (73). So now adjusted to his new life Pete knows he has found his path and can pleased with how his life has turned out.

Jordan, Pete. Dishwasher : One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. New York: HarperPerennial, 2007.

On the Waterfront

From the very beginning of the film On the Waterfront characters are faced with decisions that can either lead to them being viewed as a whistleblower or as a traitor. The problem they are faced with is the choice of either going to the police and standing up against the mobs wrong doings or keeping quiet. Characters such as Joey, Doogan, and eventually Terry Malloy, are all whistleblowers and believe in standing up for what is right. They are willing to risk their lives to bring justice to the families of the waterfront by speaking out against the mob. Joey and Doogan are unsuccessful but Terry continues on even after seeing what fatal consequences can come. On the other hand there are characters such as Johnny Friendly and the dockworkers who believe speaking out would make them a traitor. The dockworkers also don’t budge on offering any tips to the police out of fear for their lives; this fear is brought on by Johnny and his mob that make them believe speaking out is the wrong thing to do and would be considered tattling. Through all this Terry persists with the encouragement of the Priest and Edy and eventually reaches his goal of bringing justice to the mob. But before he is able to fully bring down the mob he first needs the support of the dockworkers which he eventually gets as they realize that being a whistleblower and telling the truth really is a benefit to society and shouldn’t be considered tattling.

In my opinion being a tattle and being a whistleblower are two hugely different things. To me a tattle is just someone who tells on another for their own personal pleasure or gains not someone who speaks up about wrong doings in hopes that they can improve society by fixing this problem. A whistleblower is someone who is to be appreciated for spreading awareness and helping to fix problems not just someone who is looking to get someone else in trouble for amusement.

Dishwasher: Post 3

Pete Jordan is finally starting to get an idea of what it is he wants to do with his life so things are looking up for him as Pete recounts his life in Dishwasher. He was traveling around some more getting odd jobs here and there when he met Melanie on a ferry ride from Alaska to Seattle. They become friends and she invited him to come and stay with her. He stays for a couple of months before his money starts run low and he searches anxiously for a job. This is the first time you really see him concerned and devoted to doing something, finding a job in this case. He fears if he doesn’t get his act together and earn some money Melanie will kick him out for his bum like characteristics. He frantically searches for work but is unsuccessful due to his lack of experience and qualifications and fears it is only a matter of time before he will have to leave but, Melanie comes home ecstatic one day saying she has found him a dishwashing job at a local restaurants. He is overjoyed and runs the eight miles to get the job. On his first day of work he already feels at home and meets some fellow dishwashers. They reveal to him information about a whole dishwashing community where they refer to themselves as “a dish dog” (49), a “pearl diver” (49), and a “plongeur (that’s French talk for dishwasher)” (54) and share their stories of the places they’ve dished in. This sparks his first real new curiosity in something since maps when he was a boy. Pete is engrossed in their stories and wishes that he to could share stories of places he’s dished at being able to say things like: “where in Texas haven’t I dished?”(52). This is when the idea first strikes him; he decides he wants to travel to exotic places dishing and exclaims to his fellow dishers “I’m gonna wash dishes in all fifty states!” (52). Pete has finally established some sort of plan for his life that he is actually enthusiastic about.

Pete’s writing style makes for easy reading while still giving depth in his descriptions and personality quirks. He goes through his life adding humor to common situation and rejoicing over simple things such as the disher offering him a half eaten muffing thinking, wow I like it here already. But amidst his lightheartedness you can also depict his claustrophobia of being trapped in a situation where he can’t bail easily; he turns down many better paying jobs for this reason and you get the sense he feels comforted knowing he’s not tied down to anything and could leave at any moment if he felt the urge to. I also don’t think he is comfortable staying in any one place for two long so his goal of dishing in all fifty states will suit him wall for a career satisfying his love of traveling along with a career he enjoys to fund this travel and a lifestyle well fit for him. He now has a task laid before him that he can pursue fitting his work ethics so I look forward to seeing how it plays out for him.

Jordan, Pete. Dishwasher : One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. New York: HarperPerennial, 2007.

All My Sons: family vs. society

The characters in Arthur Miller’s play, All My Sons are forced to make decisions where they can either choose to do what’s best for their family or what is best for society. In the case of Joe and Kate Keller they choose to make their decisions based on what will benefit their family. Joe expresses his views on how he feels family is what is most important when he tells Joe that everything he worked for in the company was for Joe, his family, saying “what the hell did I work for? That’s only for you, Chris, the whole shootin’ – match is for you!” (17). Later we find out that Joe also shipped off cracked cylinder heads knowing they might not hold up and could result in the death of pilots. When Chris finds this out we see his views; he believes in doing what is ethically right and what’s right for society as a whole not what may just bring benefits to ones family. Chris is furious and deeply hurt by his father’s actions. His father tries to back up what he did by saying “Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. I’m sixty years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you? (70). Joe feels his actions are justified given he did for Chris but Chris feels otherwise. He is appalled and replies “for me! Where do you live, where have you come from? For me?—I was dying every day and you were killing my boys and you did it for me? What the hell do you think I was thinking of, the Goddam business?” (70). Chris feels what his father has done is wrong no matter what his motives were.

I think in general people should do what is best for society as a whole versus what is best for their individual family but it is hard to say this for every decision. Sometimes there are instances where one should consider what is best for their family before considering the entire society but families fall under the category of society so often doing what is right for society is also right for ones family.

Dishwasher: Post 2

As I venture farther into Dishwasher Pete continues to share more about his life leading up to becoming a dishwasher. A new side to him starts to emerge that really changes some of my opinions about his mindset and way of life. In the beginning of the book Pete tells you of experiences that make you pity his deprived childhood and leads you to admire his way of life seeing as he makes it sound as though he is achieving his life goal of traveling the US through his career. Now he shares details about his life as he heads off to college. He says “I didn’t know much about the school other than it was far enough away from my neighborhood that I’d have to move out of the city, but near enough that I could easily scramble back if need be” (17). This is where I started viewing him more as lazy and my pity ended. He just views college as an escape from his life but never really commits to make use of his time there. It’s irritating because he complains of being singled out and having a poor life but yet when he gets the chance to fix some of these things and make his life better he doesn’t; instead he lets these opportunities pass him by. He is eventually kicked out of college and fired from many jobs due to smart mouthing and unmotivated personality. He knows he’s lazy and that’s why he’s losing all his jobs but he does nothing to fix this and instead mooches of the others around him.

But through all this there is one thing that stands out to me, his love for reading. It seem out of place, here you have this lazy slacker who never really tried in school but yet he loves to read, he views it as his “peculiar talent for sitting and reading for hours on end without complaint” (33). Also his frequent personality and location changes keep you interested. You never know just what to expect; one moment he’ll be enjoying his job feeling as though he might have finally found his calling and a paragraph later he’ll decide otherwise and mouth off, oversleep or just plain out leave to try something new.

Jordan, Pete. Dishwasher : One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. New York: HarperPerennial, 2007.