Dear Bill and Casper,
My boyfriend and I have been living together for about six months. Everything is going swell, except for one minor detail: He never does the dishes. Washing dishes is my least favorite chore, but I feel disgusting when I see them pile up in the sink. Granted, he does most of the cooking, but I help with a lot of other chores. I don't mind doing my fair share, but sometimes I feel a little overwhelmed.
Dear Dishpan Hands,
Problem solved: Buy paper plates and plastic forks and knives. But if you want a serious and loving life together, you must set some ground rules before your vows, in addition to compromising. Thirty years ago, we established two very simple rules in our household and we have been happy and smiling ever since.
Rule 1: Party of the first part cooks. Rule 2: Party of the second part cleans up. These two rules are essential.
Also, never leave dishes in the sink or your lives will be as messy as your dirty plates.
As for the rest of your house, take your pick: Don't cook. Don't clean. No man will ever make love to a woman because she waxed the linoleum per Joan Rivers. As Erma Bombeck quipped, “The Rose Bowl is the only bowl I've ever seen that I didn't have to clean.”
Dear Casper and Bill,
