After three days, her partner cleaned the home and even did the dishes, proving that the woman's "wanting to be heard and respected and not having to repeat yourself when things slip" worked.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on October 7, 2021. It has since been updated.
Most people, aka men, think that women who choose to stay at home have no real work, compared to the amount of slogging they do at their workplace. Little do they know that it takes a lot more than just cooking and cleaning to maintain a home.
True, times are changing and chores are now being split equally by all family members, but even then, there are some entitled people who think it's a woman's job to pick up after them.
One such woman decided to just stop doing her chores one fine day, to see if her family would realize her value. The woman, known as @MissPotkin on Twitter, decided to document the experience as well, and it has since gone viral.
Two days ago, I decided to stop doing the dishes. I make all the dinners and I am tired of having to do all the cleaning too. SINCE THEN this pile has appeared and at some point they are going to run out of spoons and cups and plates.
— Lily Potkin (@MissPotkin) March 17, 2021
Who will blink first? Not me. pic.twitter.com/IZkOwP3a6B
"Two days ago, I decided to stop doing the dishes," she tweeted on March 18, 2021. "I make all the dinners, and I am tired of having to do all the cleaning too. SINCE THEN, this pile has appeared, and at some point, they are going to run out of spoons and cups and plates. Who will blink first? Not me."
She then revealed that laundry was also off her to-do list. "Let me know when you want to talk about the fact that I stopped doing the laundry, too," she wrote. "It's getting a bit post-apocalyptic. The piles are everywhere."
WE HAVE MOVEMENT! The bin is being emptied after 965 days. pic.twitter.com/P3T5W4YPFn
— Lily Potkin (@MissPotkin) March 18, 2021
There was also a moment where the downstairs toilet ran out of toilet paper, but the woman wasn't going to restock it. If someone wanted to, they could do it themselves.
The last of the loo roll in the downstairs loo was used at 7:04pm last night. It hasn’t been replaced. They downstairs loo is now out of action for anyone that remembers. For anyone that doesn’t...god help them.
— Lily Potkin (@MissPotkin) March 18, 2021
While it was relaxing to not do chores, she also couldn't handle seeing the pile of filth only grow. "There is a pan on the cooker with a single sausage in it," she added, referring to it as the "sausage of death".
"It's been there for two days. I can't look at it because it's turned the color of the man that washes up in Cast Away." To cleanse herself, since she couldn't do that to the house, she decided to take a long shower but she was greeted by empty bottles of toiletries.
Her excitement started to build up when she noticed her husband loading the dishwasher, but he didn't turn it on. Later, she gave a tour of the kitchen that looked "clean" for afar, but was far from it, in reality.
God give me strength. pic.twitter.com/Sp5870VmcV
— Lily Potkin (@MissPotkin) March 18, 2021
Finally, after three days of not cleaning, it appears her partner turned the dishwasher on and even started cleaning up a mess on the floor before Miss Potkin stepped on it. She finished the thread with a photo of a tidy house and a message for everyone: "You're gonna have good days, bad days…but people don't like being taken for granted, especially by the ones they love the most. Period," she said.
Me walking into the kitchen
— Lily Potkin (@MissPotkin) March 18, 2021
Him: Don’t step there! There’s mess on the floor! *starts cleaning*
Wait what?
While several people agreed with her, saying this was a good lesson for the family, some called her out, saying she was being lazy. For them, she had an epic response: I" see that judgey fucking Twitter has woken up so let me say this once and be clear - We do not 'live like this'. This is a lesson in wanting to be heard and respected and not having to repeat yourself when things slip. We're navigating the day-today in extraordinary times and for me, the past two days have been funnier than anything else. I think we're all entitled to run our own experiments, be amused, push a situation to its limit if we so choose. No one needs to be lectured by those that have failed to see the silly joy in what's happening here."
To each, their own, isn't it? And if someone's learned a lesson out of it, then nothing better!
References:
https://twitter.com/MissPotkin/status/1372311382406889474?
Cover Image Source (Representative): Getty Images | Peter Dazeley