The Mysterious Flipped Cap.

Can someone tell me what a man who won’t do dishes does with dishwashing detergent?

About two weeks ago, I noticed that the little snap lid to the bottle of dishwashing detergent always seemed to be flipped up when I went to the kitchen sink to do dishes. I blamed myself. After all, I was the one using the stuff, so I must be the one not closing the bottle when I’m done.

I made a more concerted effort to close the bottle when I was done with it. I know enough to realize that, if I left it open, sooner or later Kitten from Hell would jump up on the counter, knock the bottle over and leave me with a mess to clean up on the counter or in the sink. I won’t even get into the waste of money that would result from such an occurrence, but the aggravation of having to clean up soap is enough to make me vigilant. I really have taken it seriously, and started paying attention.

And yet I still find the bottle open when I go to do the dishes in the evening. There are a few possible reasons for this. Kitten from Hell may have developed opposable thumbs when I wasn’t looking (one of my greater fears). My mind may finally be going, and I’m either sleepwalking and opening the bottle while I somnambulate or I’ve developed Multiple Personality Disorder and my alter ego likes to drive me nuts by leaving the cap up. The final possiblity is that The Professor has found a use for dishwashing detergent. If he has, it has nothing to do with doing dishes.

Before anyone suggests that he’s using it to wash his hands: there is a pump bottle of liquid hand soap adjacent to the bottle of dishwashing detergent. I mean directly adjacent; the two bottles physically touch each other. One bottle you have to (1)pick up and (2) flip the cap and then (3)turn over and (4) squeeze to use. The other you just (1) push down on the pump to get handsoap. Which one of those two would a lazy man be most likely to use to wash his hands?

I don’t much see the point of asking him what he’s doing with the dishwashing detergent. He’d either deny leaving it open or get all defensive, both of which would be counter-productive. I can’t help but be curious, though.