TLDR at the end

so ive been working at this higher-end local restaurant for 3 weeks now. its going pretty well, i work Tuesday through Saturday, 4:30pm until whenever im done. thats usually 10/11pm. its my first dishwashing job, and its definitely new to me, but im learning to enjoy it. sometimes i’ll have a shit morning before my shift and once i start working all the negative feelings go away. i just get into the flow of the pit.

yesterday, i was having a rough day. woke up in a really bad mood, and was excited for work to calm me down. i always make a cup of coffee in a mason jar to bring, and ice it at the restaurant. this time, right when i showed up, i broke the jar and spilled the sticky coffee all over my belongings. i had to empty out my entire bag and wipe everything off. it was so stressful for me that i started crying (i have sensory issues and sticky things are really hard for me to handle). i cleaned up my shit and clocked in, started working, but i never really calmed down. i couldn’t regulate myself, and just kept crying all day. the dishes started piling up and i was rushing to get everything done.

when i put things away, i maximize my time by carrying different items that go in the same area, all at once. so i went to put the round pans away (pictured) and forgot to take the smaller pans off of the bigger pans. a few minutes later, one of the line cooks went to grab a big pan and the small pans fell off with it. he yelled at me, angrily reminding me not to do that, because i had already done it once earlier this week. “fuckin leo, you can’t do that! you’re gonna knock my teeth out someday!” i felt so stupid doing it again. but thats not the big mistake.

my dishes were still piling up. closing time was creeping up and thats when the most stuff is brought to be washed. the line cook had to prep some fish, but because our kitchen is so small they have to use my table for prep. i was drowning in dishes, so of course the table was full. he came over and went “WOW” in this tone of voice that felt like “you’re so fucking slow and pathetic”. he angrily unloaded the table and took it to prep the fish. it really stressed me out because i was going as fast as i could while crying (still). so i worked harder, faster. later on he was back at his station and i went to put the big round pans away. this time i had remembered to separate the smaller pans, but when i went to put the big pans down i somehow missed the shelf and they came tumbling down onto the table. they knocked a plate full of fresh food off, breaking it, and this time both the line cooks yelled at me. “FUCK DUDE YOU GOTTA BE CAREFUL!”

i couldn’t even stick around to help clean up, i needed to step outside. i had a small panic attack, hyperventilating and sobbing my fucking brains out. i felt so small and stupid and scared i would lose my job. scared my tips would get fucked over. i felt so bad that i messed up, now the cooks had to remake a plate, a customer had to wait longer, i felt like i made a tremendous mistake. i sat there crying and hyperventilating until one of my coworkers came out to console me. she helped me calm down and reassured me everything was fine, that it was just an accident. but i cant help but still feel like a failure. im still scared i’ll get fired. i still feel like everyone is mad at me.

is this as big of a mistake as it feels? has anyone else made a mistake like this, and how was the aftermath?

TLDR: while putting away round pans, i missed the shelf and dropped the pans, breaking a plate of freshly cooked food and got yelled at by the line cooks. scared of losing my job. feeling like a failure.

And it drives me insane!!!

I've been a dishwasher for about 2 years now, November 1st (about then) will mark 2 years. And now that I'm quitting to leave for job corps, I'm looking back on my experiences, and I have learned a lot. (Also, I don’t normally post irl photos of where I've been, but I have finally moved to a new place before getting into Job Corps, so I'm fine with posting pictures of my restaurant.)

To start, many see dishwashing as a low level easy job. And while that is kind of true, it also still means a ton. Without the dishwasher, the cook is unable to get food onto plates and cook and have food ready. In most restaurants, the dishwasher also does prep work. Without them, all the dishes would be dirty and unusable, slowing down the workflow and making it harder. Food wouldn't be ready to be cooked and served. Without the dishwasher, the waitresses and servers wouldn't have silverware to give customers to eat food with, those would be dirty. The cups and salad bowls and whatnot would be dirty too. Without the dishwasher, the kitchen would not get cleaned in time for closing, trash may not get taken out, etc. The work would slow down severely and the other employees would be swamped with stuff to do. The dishwasher is like oil to a engine or industrial grade machine. Without them, performance would either be severely slowed or halted.

But while the dishwashers do a ton too, they also need to know when to take a break. Dishwashers are the oil that makes the cogs turn, but that oil must be wiped away and changed. So don't forget to take a break, dishies. Burnout is real, and when you're burnt out, work sucks and becomes tedious.

I have learned many lessons and ideas since starting. I learned hard work and how to keep going strong even when you want to faint. I've learned to comfort those who are in pain, and when to stand back and give them space. I've seen people give up and do wrong things, and I've seen people bless others and make them happy. (Skip to the bold italic area below if you don't want to hear about anything sappy or whatnot. 😅) I've never really found anyone I liked except for one person in middle school, but I was a chicken and didn't confess my feelings outright. But just yesterday as of writing this (October 16, 2026), I worked a shift with a new waitress I didn't even know we had hired on, I thought we had enough waitresses already. She seemed like she could be about 21 and able to work as a bartender too since our waitresses who are 21+ often work as a part time bartender for some of their shifts. But at the same time, this girl looked like she might be around the same age as me, maybe a year older (I'm 18 M, the internet already has this info somewhere else on other platforms). Regardless, she was very beautiful and kind and from what I could tell we seemed to have a similar personality and similar interests and hobbies, and I think I started feeling feelings for her. I was a bit nervous opening up a bit more to her about my personal life in any way though or showing interest cause I've been rejected twice after opening up. But because I felt comfortable there and I was already having a good day, I had the courage to at least ask her if she was working night shifts, which I worked tonight and will work tomorrow. But sadly, she didn't. So if it is meant to be, I will visit the restaurant later down the road and see her. But regardless, I chose to not emotionally invest myself with her just to stay open to other possible relationships that might work out better.

(Continued) But working as a dishwasher, believe it or not, let me grow enough to be confident in my own skin when I was shy and not comfortable around people prior to working there. It was also the place where I grew from a boy into a man, where I learned some of my most valuable lessons from those who truly cared about me and supported me. Our male cook was like a work father too me, the two mexican female cooks like aunts to me, and one of our female waitresses/bartenders was like a work mother to me. Our boss, oddly enough, felt like a work grandpa, and his wife felt kind of like a work grandma to me as well as a few of the bartenders and waitresses. Another waitress who part times as a bartender happens to feel like a work sister to me. The TL;DR is that they took me in and made me feel like a part of the crew and they all treated me like family. And for that, I am grateful. But this is not the end of a dishie, but the rising of one to bigger and better. I will still be here to guide and teach what I have learned as an ex dishie.

So to those who are new dishies, I say to you, embrace it. You will learn valuable lessons, become a part of the crew, even become best friends with them. You will experience parts of their life, and they will experience parts of yours, and the bond from it is more precious than money can buy.

And to all you dishies out there, keep soldiering on. You are the oil of the machine, the water and blood of the organisms, the oxygen of the ecosystem, the hidden set prop crew worker that sets up the props for the movie. You are what makes the restaurant work and run properly. And to those who are using it as a stepping stone and turning point, keep aiming for the stars. Cause legends start out from nothing and rise to power and glory, and eventually they themselves become stars with their names written in the bedrock of the earth, an eternal record to say, "I was here, and I conquered the land and stood tall atop the world." Keep soldiering on, dishies, and aim for the stars.

I’m 43 and have been doing this for about ten years. I’m also short and the constant leaning to reach stuff wreaks havoc on my lower back. This helps.

Anyone here has OCD or ADHD that makes your co workers uncomfortable because you are not used working with co workers. Tell me a story about yours.

Started my first dish job (and first non-gig work job in general) and I’m absolutely loving every part of it. My coworkers are great, management listens and even two of them even hop in the pit when i’ve been the only one in it all day, and they all answer my dumb ass questions… the only problem is that my hands are absolutely destroyed after almost half a year here.

Is there anyway to stop this level of damage in the first place? We are offered sysco’s food safe nitrile gloves but the size of my hands make even the XLs a tight fit, and they rip as soon as i scrub our cast irons. We use whatever chemicals are used in the EcoLab ES-2000.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that we skip the soak process and straight blast the dish ware with an ecospray pressure hose. I’m sure a contributing factor is the hot, high pressured water blasting my hands, but it’s weird considering it’s my right hand (the more beat up one) holding the nozzle. We also use a lot of sanitizer to wipe bused tables, but the servers do too and theirs aren’t as bad as mine are?

Vent with me! Please

What things in your kitchen require that extra bit of soap and sanitizer?

Today is family day at the school I wash dishes at, we’re serving over 1,400 people. Pray the dish gods show me a sliver of mercy

I went back to my favorite restaurant and applied. I got a call back within 2 days and was hired back in 5. They moved a dishwasher to a line cook so I can take her place. Competitive pay is nice. They started me at 1.5x the national average. I think they like me there. Payday is going to be nice.

It's my second week dishwashing for this restaurant and I'm just fuming in the dish pit. They got me wearing these fuck ass hair nets and plastic aprons and gloves. I can't look like this IN FRONT of the baddie servers. They got me feeling like a fucking rat digging around trash. I'm just FUMING inside the dish pit. I see the FOH staffs smiling and laughing eating fucking ice cream in the outside air conditioned area (basically everywhere outside of the dish pit). How DARE you have fun and laugh doing your job. Deadass piss me off and I'm here picking up trash like a rat. Why the fuck did I sign up for this job AGAIN? Oh right, because basically any other job I have no experience in, I'm not sure how people are getting hired without experience. My legs are tired from standing in one place in this hot hot area and getting sprayed with HOT water and water dripping on my head. Every time I put stuff back I feel so nice because of the air conditioning. Some people take this job way too seriously, I have to hand wash things first, but you really can't take your time hand washing every plate spot clean if you don't want dishes to pile up. Also, the machine already washes dirty dishes pretty spot clean, the handwashing in my opinion is only a waste of time. I got this old lady up my ass to clean it well, like SISTER, you are getting paid MINIMUM wage to take this job WAY TOO SERIOUSLY. Just scrub it a few times, then put it on the rack. WE GOT DISHES TO CLEAN. I'm not sure how people actually ENJOY this job. After this job, I am NEVER going back to a dish washing position AGAIN.

Has anyone ever dealt with anything similar before? I noticed it gets a lot worse under my gloves which I assume is because of the trapped moisture but I’m really not too sure. It’s on both hands and there’s no puss but it’s getting worse by the minute and I have no idea how to prevent it.

Honestly I never been so happy in my life, I was getting so burnt out on this job and wanted something new. I gave my two week notice and now I am free, honestly I never been so happy in a long time. My hours stacked really bad and now I have weekend free ( well I will have one day for weekend, but that doesn’t matter too much ). Including I get paid the same, so I no longer will need to rush my jobs too much.

At first I was afraid to stack and carry mugs like this, but I realised they were pretty stable. I started carrying 4 at a time, then 6, and eventually 9, but 8 is the most comfortable. That's 16 mugs in one trip using both hands. Saves me tons of time when putting them away.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]