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.