Recently, I read a 'Dear Abby' type of article. A woman was upset and seeking advice over a dilemma she had. A friend had been at their house helping her husband do some landscaping. When they were done and came into the house, the friend proceeded to wash up at the kitchen sink. The woman was horrified to think someone would wash himself at the kitchen sink where food is prepared--and the columnist was, too. I was dumbfounded--this was something that never occurred to me as being horrifying.
The house I grew up in was an old farmhouse that had been moved into town from the farm. It only had a tiny bathroom on the second floor--and the sink didn't work the entire time I lived there. We had to use the bathtub to wash after using the toilet--or go downstairs and use the kitchen sink. I grew up using the kitchen sink to brush my teeth and The Father ALWAYS washed up there when coming in from an outside job. Actually, I don't know how much difference it would have made if the bathroom would have been fully functional. Both The Mother and Father used outhouses at some point in their lives, so the only sink they ever had that was usable WAS the kitchen one. (The sauna was for bathing.) When The Parents married and rented a house, it only had an outhouse and a water pump in the kitchen. They have lived very rustically at different times of their lives. Growing up, the kitchen sink was regularly scrubbed and it DEFINITELY was scrubbed before any food was put into it, so there was no chance of contamination. To this day, I don't see a problem with using the kitchen sink for other than dishes and food.
My question is this: Do I have a wrong way of looking at this entire situation? Do you--or have you ever--used your kitchen sink for anything that was not related to food in any way? I'm terribly curious about this.
Curiosity
