We think we're like really funny.
When Katie and I were young we used to fight a lot. Our parents tasked us with doing the dishes from an early age. At first we fought over who got to wash. I remember my grandma showing us how to wash dishes. I’m not sure why she was at our house doing the dishes, but for some reason, she’s the one I remember teaching us. I think it was more about spending time with her that we were fighting about, or maybe it was that we were finally allowed to do this “adult” thing. Like when we first started showering instead of taking baths. There are photos out there documenting that momentous occasion, by the way. Either way, it started out fun. I also remember my grandma saying, “a good dryer catches what a bad washer misses.” I think it was meant to be endearing, but it ended up that the one who was assigned drying duties always reminded the other one that they were a bad washer.
At some point doing the dishes stopped being fun and started feeling like our parents were exploiting us for free child labor. We were not new to the idea of child labor. My first job was when I was 8, slinging coffee drinks behind the bar at the Merc, this coffee shop my dad, Ray, owned. I say that casually, but it was in fact a real job. I got paid and everything. I can’t imagine what the non-regulars probably thought walking into this coffee shop only to be asked what they’d like by a very tall, yet clearly very young, girl. And I didn’t just take the orders, I was pulling espresso and foaming milk. And dishes, sooooo many dishes. Ray didn’t have a washing machine yet, that came years later, so everything had to be hand washed, and it was excruciating. Maybe that’s why I started to hate doing the dishes. Most of my adolescence felt like it was spent doing the dishes.
The fighting continued, at this point it was about who was going to get the coveted dryer job. I remember Katie laying on the floor after dinner, every night saying her tummy hurt. I would go into the bathroom and try to poop. I’m always pooping, or at least trying, so that wasn’t exactly a non-excuse. Katie’s always had funny stuff with food, so her’s was probably valid too. That being said, the dishes weren’t going to wash themselves. Eventually we came up with a system where on odd days I would wash and on even days Katie would. You may think it seemed uneven because some months end and begin with odd numbers, but as incentive, because we fought about this too, on the days we washed, we also got to sit in the front seat of the car the whole day. It was like this precious gift we could lord over the other person’s head. I remember feeling so superior when we would run errands on my days. Like, sorry we didn’t leave the house yesterday Katie, I guess that’s just the luck of the draw. Again fighting. But it did diffuse the fighting because it’s not like either one of us were capable of not selectively recalling all the times we had to wash AND sit in the back seat.
I’m so glad I had Katie growing up. When we get along, it’s like we magically transport into this alternate universe where we get to be weird and really funny. I mean we are like really funny. But we are also really weird. Once the argument had been resolved, we settled into our new roles. Doing the dishes was never fun, but it became bearable, and we were doing it together. Also there was singing, there was always singing. Katie and I sang a lot growing up, we would really accentuate our voices in our own little universe, convinced no one else could hear us. We did this in the car, a lot, mostly on long car rides. I’m sure our parents are very grateful they no longer have to hear our harmonious version of Free Fallin’ ever again. This also became part of the dish doing process. We would challenge ourselves to get creative with the songs we sang, taking turns switching parts or playing around with the cadence. Eventually, though, the holy grail of all dish songs came to us and it’s been the soundtrack to our collaborative kitchen duties ever since.
We grew up in the 90s so commercial jingles were a big deal. Every company, including our small town mom and pop shops had their own variation of a catchy tune. You know the ones that get stuck in your head and play on loop for years? I can still remember watching Stanley Steamer commercials, with vivid detail, as the carpet cleaning truck drove across the screen treading the logo while the screen voice informed us they were tough on stains and gentle on carpets. This is not the song that became our anthem. No, that one doesn’t even hold a candle to the gloriously sweet symphony that is the PC Store song. I have no idea when or where we first heard it, I barely remember if it was on the radio or the TV. Probably both, knowing the decade. That’s beside the point. This complex masterpiece, clocking in at exactly 30 seconds, was no small town jingle. The local IT company must have hired some big hot shot execs to write this, because it’s pure gold. Katie and I learned every word. Then we would sing it on loop as we washed and dried. Eventually, though, just singing it felt like it wasn’t enough, we had to level up our performance and use our unique talents to put our own spin on it. We decided to sing every other word for the entirety of the song. We knew it backwards and forwards so this was nothing to us. Initially, though, the cadence and tone were horrific. Whoever went second always got the high notes, so they really had to be on their game or it would flop. We would rehearse over and over again, sometimes crying from laughing so hard, but eventually we mastered it. Now we were unstoppable. We would alternate roles so sometimes I would start and sometimes she would. We would see how fast we could go without messing up. It became a game, and the dishes never flew by so fast. This core memory has stuck with me throughout my entire adult life. You’d think we would have forgotten this beloved song by now, but it’s in the vault. Recently Katie and I were both home for Christmas break and we found ourselves doing the dishes once again. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to perform our one hit wonder. We were instantly transported back into our adolescent days, as if we had never left. Singing the PC Store song on loop as I washed away the remnants of our Christmas Spaghetti, handing the wet dishes to Katie, felt like home, like I never left.
Our family is complex and at times very difficult, but for those thirty seconds, it never felt like work.
*Top photo is definitely from the 90s. Katie and I got these desks from Santa one year, and we obviously were thrilled.
*Enjoy these two videos of Katie and I singing The PC Store jingle over Christmas break 2022.
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