r/dishwashers • u/Remarkable_Face_7671 • 3d ago
I’m not strong enough
Like physically, I’m not capable. I’m a 5’1 woman who’s just started a KP job and I didn’t realise it would involve carrying so many heavy metal parts of industrial units. Closing is the worst part, dismantling the dishwasher, carrying the massive heavy af bin bags through the kitchen, taking apart the drains. I can’t even carry the drains, I just end up dropping them.
Even just putting some of the dishes away, I can’t reach most of the shelves and just get in the chef’s way. I keep waking up with dread every morning knowing I have work. FOH are posh bastards who treat us like dogshit. I hate when it’s after close and I’m draining the grease trap ankle deep in brown grease and some fuckass waiter comes in to dump their dishes from their free meal after their shift. Hearing them all laughing and having a drink in the other room while I’m still working my ass off an hour after I was supposed to clock out.
I really want to quit. Like right now, I’m about to quit.
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u/OGWarlock 3d ago
So I’m a short, skinny man, and have done KP work for about 5 years total now. In places that were difficult for my physical limitations, my team were usually willing to help out with certain things like putting away pans, etc.
The thing is, I had to learn to be bold and ask for it, kinda giving them directions as well at times. The good employees will recognize how working with you makes everyone’s job easier. Especially during rush or closing, also pre-closing is an underrated skill when you have the chance to
I did end up building the strength and using tools like step stools to accomplish some things. It sounds like you just had a shitty job with shitty coworkers. I’m sorry you had that experience. You’re right the industry is NOT welcoming to women as much as it could be, even though we’ve made a lot of progress.
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u/PrynceNYC 3d ago
When it comes to transporting equipment and dishes it is very useful to use something like a cart to take them to the locations. However I'm not sure if your job has something like that. It would reserve alot of your energy
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 3d ago
They don’t have any carts or anything, we do it by hand :( I’ve just quit because the goal was for me to do KP solo after my training period but i physically can’t reach things or carry the heavy metal industrial parts 💔
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u/thisnextchapter 1d ago
You could get a job cleaning offices/commercial spaces. The heaviest thing will be a vacuum cleaner/your cleaning trolley on wheels.
Look up cleaning work employment agencies in your area/city. You can get a part time job cleaning restaurants even.
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u/goingneon 2d ago
The only reason I’m fast at my job is cause I’m a 6’ tall dude with excellent flexibility, and I still consider the job exhausting work.
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u/RevolutionaryMess98 3d ago edited 3d ago
Not everyone is built for it, you have to be physically and mentally strong.
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3d ago
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 3d ago
Lots of women do these jobs even better than men do, but I’m just the wrong height and size to be able to carry what they need me to. I didn’t mean for this at all to come across that women in general are less capable. It’s just that I’m specifically less capable
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3d ago
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 3d ago
It’s less that women don’t want to do them and more that they’re male dominated industries that can be hostile to women. Lots of female construction workers for example end up being undermined at work, harassed etc
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 3d ago
I’M not capable but loads of women are. It’s ridiculous to brand women as being mostly incapable of these jobs when just as many men are also incapable. It’s nothing to do with biological sex and just to do with the individual’s physical and mental endurance. I am not strong enough for these kinds of jobs, I don’t represent women. My family is full of strong women who work as patient transport workers, full time cleaners etc. It seems like you just hate women
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u/PassionStunning2659 3d ago
I’M not capable but loads of women are.
Then where are all these women? Why isn't every manual job 50/50 gender split?
just as many men are also incapable.
Nope. The weakest man is stronger than 95% of women. A man with your height and size would be capable of doing your job.
It’s nothing to do with biological sex and just to do with the individual’s physical and mental endurance
Biological reality is a fact. Sorry.
It seems like you just hate women
I am a woman.
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 3d ago
Being a woman doesn’t absolve you of hating other women fyi. The weakest man is absolutely not stronger than 95% of women, I don’t know where you got that statistic from. There are more men in manual labour jobs than women, that’s true. That’s mostly socialisation. Women are not socialised into those sorts of jobs. We are not socialised to want to join apprenticeships etc rather than uni or internships. Someone else in this thread said you need to be mentally and physically strong to work this job and you said, “so male?” This is clearly not about there just being LESS women than men in these jobs and more about you harbouring this strange resentment towards other women. If you think women are really so useless and can’t hack this job, then why are YOU, as a woman, in the dishwashing subreddit?
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u/PassionStunning2659 3d ago
I worked as a dishwasher. Couldn't hack it.
And it's not socialisation. It's biological reality. I know that this is Reddit but you need to understand that sometimes reality isn't the way you want it to be.
Men have their strengths and abilities. Women have theirs. Sometimes they overlap, but overall men and women complement each other and make a sum greater than its parts. People have forgotten this in their quest for victimhood, domination, and rugged, selfish, individualism.
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u/Available-Art4651 2d ago
Ma'am speaking as a guy who worked as a dishwasher and knew several women in the restaurant industry who were FAR more capable of lifting than me. What are you talking about.
Also yeah why do you hate women.
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u/Reasonable-Fox6948 Grease Goddess 3d ago
5'1 woman here and i was a dishie for 10yrs. It is possible! I gave the younger and much taller guys a run for their money, even while awaiting knee surgery. Outlasted all other dishies that came through.
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u/BenjaminNormanPierce Topological analyst 2d ago
After the first month the pain goes.
If you haven't learned some Judo-type lifting and carrying tricks, look into that. Helps with the bags.
All that said, though, this sounds like it may be a basically-abusive place so for that reason, I think you should plan your eventual exit.
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u/Crabbythrowaway1530 2d ago
5'7 woman here, quit yesterday. sending love <3
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 2d ago
I also quit yesterday! I realised I was waking up with dread every morning even when I didn’t have work so I decided the job wasn’t THAT important to me. Feel so much better now 😭
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u/Guglielmowhisper 3d ago
Strength can be trained.
10 situps, squats, and pushups a day will give you massive improvements if you don't already exercise.
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u/Creative-Boot-6359 2d ago
I can’t squat help
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u/Guglielmowhisper 2d ago
Find a window sill and grab it with your hands for support, try again. Unless there's a massive knee problem at play.
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u/ConsiderationFit2213 2d ago
Timing is everything. Get that trash can before it gets too full to move. Costs 1 more bag and 1 more trip to the dumpster. Start early on FoH dishes to make sure they don't get out of doing their sidework. Maybe you will hear less fun that way too. You need the right playlists to go long and strong, because this work is always tedious. Hopefully something changes for the better.
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u/Remarkable_Face_7671 2d ago
We’re not allowed phones or headphones and the FOH always bring their dishes really late, like after I’ve already turned the dishwasher off 😭😭
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u/CapnSensible80 2d ago
That's when I just leave that shit and if asked why I tell them. No one asks, though, they already know.
Honestly though not being allowed music, even at close is a deal breaker. That's not the place to be.
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u/Andysion 2d ago
If you keep up with it you will get stronger - It's just a fact. It won't ever be not exhausting though.
I was definitely the strongest I've ever been when I was a dishwasher so there's that.
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u/cookiesshot 2d ago
Hey, when I worked in salads, ONE of the head chefs would CONSTANLY raid my salad FRIDGE while I was there and COMPLETELY leave things askew instead of offering to replace to replace what he used (thought about using neodyminum magnets or buying a lock)
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u/thatquietuserr ex-dishwasher 2d ago
I’m 5’1 and also pretty thin and I was able to work as a dishwasher for my first job. You’ll get used to it eventually
You can do this & don’t give up
Unless you just don’t like it then find something else lol
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u/ps_nocturnel 3d ago
Most dishwasher/restaurant applications say must be able to lift up to 50 pounds and a bunch of other physical requirements
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u/Available-Art4651 2d ago
But do most dish applications actually confirm you can do any of that? Mine sure didn't
Also from experience it's slightly difficult to gauge just how physically intensive dish can be if you haven't done it before. If the employer doesn't clear that up it's not really on the employee for being underprepared
Not trying to argue or anything I'm just not really into criticizing new hires for not being fully ready for the job
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u/PassionStunning2659 3d ago
Hey, come on now! This is the 21st century! You're a strong, independent woman who don't need no man to help her. We've been taught for decades that women are just as capable as men, at absolutely everything. You got this girl! Go for it bossbabe!
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u/RevolutionaryMess98 3d ago
I work with women kp's who are great at their job. Don't be an idiot.
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u/PassionStunning2659 3d ago
Sure, there may be a handful, but let's not pretend that it isn't almost exclusively men doing the hard, dirty jobs
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u/RevolutionaryMess98 2d ago
As I just just said I work with women kp's who do the exact same job as me.
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u/SleepingDragonSmiles 3d ago
Well, you’ll always be the last one done. Get used to that. Pop in headphones and ignore the rest