3 people, 2 nights, every plate, bowl and utensil used

[Laura2592]

This is just me being cranky and venting. 

We have 12 dinner plates, 10 cereal bowls, 12 salad plates and 12 saucers over 2 sets of dishes. 8 wine glasses, 15 forks, 22 spoons and 14 knives. Every single one was used over a 2 night stay for 3 ladies. Yes, we are sure that there were only 3. We saw them on the Ring and the neighbors confirmed.

They were kind enough to do one load of dishes before they left but there was another full load that needed to be done. They DID scour the pans and pots (of which every single one had been used.) 

I know you aren't supposed to leave more things than a guest will use, but we have an open china hutch with really cute display dishes as well as a plain white set in the cabinets. In over 120 stays never once has anyone used ALL of the dishes.  People do sometimes use the "fancy" dishes which is absolutely fine, but not ALL the fancy dishes. So I figured that we were kind of at a low risk. Silly me.

I am sort of impressed and confused as well as being annoyed. Otherwise they were great guests and got a good review from me. But how does someone do this? It kinda boggles my mind. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  They just didn't wash one one dish or utensil the entire stay,  just took a clean one each time until there were no more left, and left them all until just before check-out.

It's like people who use a towel once, throw it on the floor and take a clean one off the stack.

Either that or they're OCD and felt all of your dishes needed rewashing 🙂

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 I'm just so puzzled by when they had time to do this feasting! They said they had done several other time consuming activities  like hiking and visiting some local museums.  It wasn't a long stay. 

If you figure 3 people use a new plate for 3 meals over 2 days you get 18 plates. This is a Victorian dinner party level of dishware. And they were all dirty...a chicken was roasted. Pasta made. Some kind of garlicky potatoes.  It's like they had extra hours in the day and they spent them making and eating elaborate meals. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  They also probably used a glass once for a drink of water and instead of just rinsing it out and reusing it, put it on the dirty pile. 

[Anonymous]

Yep, I think what @Sarah977  said is exactly what happened. I guess it was decent of them to wash at least one load of dishes on checkout day, but you'd think at least one person in a group of three would have a Eureka! moment and consider that they could also hand-wash the rest. 

In the past, whenever I've had a house party with food involved, I've noticed that guests who aren't in my inner orbit tend to pick up a new glass and plate every time they enter the kitchen and leave the used ones sitting around as though I had waitstaff circling the room. Despite suggestively leaving a fresh handwashing station in the kitchen, when the clean crockery ran out, people just started getting creative about how to avoid washing even one thing. I once caught someone ladelling soup into a pot intended for houseplants.

It's a special kind of laziness that seems endemic on both sides of the Atlantic. I don't mind if every dish in the house gets used, but there's no good review coming from me if any of them are left unwashed.

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous @Laura2592  It's like the people who just keep piling more stuff into an obviously overfull garbage can, instead of taking out the garbage.

Super lazy.

[Pat271]

Regardless of actual outcome, I set my expectations that guests may actually use everything available to them in the house, however nonsensical it may be. This helps me keep my sanity.

I do ask guests to wash their dishes and empty their garbage in my checkout procedure, though. I also say I would appreciate it if they would start a load of towels, although it’s not required. 

[Laura2592]

@Pat271 oh I definitely know better than to think this isn't possible.  But just wow. That's a whole lot of eating/meal prep in a short time with other activities on the books. I'm kind of in awe.

[Pat271]

@Laura2592 I know the feeling. I’ve done a lot of head-scratching over some of the things my guests have done.🤔

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  Maybe they didn't sleep, ergo, they had the time for hiking and sightseeing as well as gourmet cooking.  

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 my current theory is that they were all sorceresses. 

[Nash-Cottages-LLC0]

@Laura2592 It's so cathartic to vent!! Thanks for sharing your story! We have a max capacity of 4, so we only keep four bowls, four of two plate sizes, four of three types of glasses, etc.  We have these out in addition to a few serving plates, serving utensils, and many other items to make meals - partially for the reason you cited, and @Pat271 noted if it's there, it is available for use.

We also have a dishwasher. So, items tend to make it in there and are washed for reuse.

We used to have more of everything and found that things go missing, get broken, or have walked into what seemed like a movie set trying to depict the rapture. 

[Pat271]

@Nash-Cottages-LLC0  “We used to have more of everything and found that things go missing, get broken, or have walked into what seemed like a movie set trying to depict the rapture. ”

Made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the imaginative visual!

[Lorna170]

@Laura2592   I come from a family of cooks.... the kind that use every pot, pan, utensil and serving dish to make a meal.  The kind that serves three or four courses, and must have the correct plate for each course.  So I am NOT surprised that they used every dish in the house.  But they obviously did not bring the OCD friend who washes everything in sight.  Next time they come, remind them to bring her along too.

P.S.  I have a cabin max occupancy of 4 -- with a full china service for 12 in the cupboards.   Seldom do I have more than a single plate or coffee cup left in the sink.

[Christine615]

Sounds OCD. Like you I have a china cabinet with two different complete sets of dishes (Mikasa bone china, and vintage Correlle). I have sets of wine glasses, mugs, water glasses, bowls, etc.

I have never had anyone use everything - even when I'm at max capacity. Even when I've had a caterer cooking for her family. But maybe it has happened and I didn't know?? Almost every time the dishes are washed and put away, or the dishwasher is loaded as per my house rules.

These sound like outlier guests. They certainly enjoyed themselves, and to be honest, you did say the did a load of dishes and scoured the pots and pans. Perhaps they ran out of time? Or found that some stuff wasn't optimal when they arrived and rewashed them (or are OCD and rewashed everything?)

So theory:

1. bulimic

2. food tasters

3. food critic reviewers

4. weird

5. new religion that worships kitchen utensils

6. Airbnb punking us

Hope they leave you a good review.