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Dishwasher — Dirty or Clean? Or somewhere in between?
The Tale of Two States
What do the Clean/Dirty labels on the Dishwasher actually signify? I’ve often wondered about this from a conceptual angle. Are the ‘states’ of Clean and Dirty enough to unequivocally identify the truth? Or is this binary data structure a bit too ‘neat’ (pun intended) to reflect operational reality?
I explore this First World problem and mull over some alternatives.
Tale of two states
In the home, it’s not so much an issue. In commercial settings, especially where there is a communal dishwasher, or in some cases multiple dish-drawers, Clean and Dirty can leave room for ambiguity.
Dirty?
When the dishwasher is filling up with used dishes, this label is stuck.
Clean?
One assumes this label is stuck as soon as the dishwasher runs, to indicate that dishes in there are en-route to cleanliness.
Or In Between?
Clean / Dirty labels indicate the ‘state’ of dishes. These discrete labels, however, do not fully sync with the underlying operation of the dishwasher which has a start-finish cycle that transforms the dishes from clean-dirty.
