A student says their dad insisted dishes take 30 minutes, so they stopped at 30 for months. The final cleanup took three hours, with dad drying

A university student says a running dispute with their father over chores ended in a textbook case of malicious compliance, according to a Reddit post by u/TFANOverride08 in r/MaliciousCompliance. The conflict reportedly began when the father insisted that washing the dishes should take only 30 minutes, even though many of the family’s pots and pans didn’t fit in the dishwasher. The father’s side of the story could not be verified.

The student claims they were balancing online classes and strict homework deadlines while staying home. According to the student, because the household had only one sink, the dishes often piled up for two days. Allegedly, scrubbing crusty leftover pots from meals like homemade meatballs or steamed vegetables took a lot of time.

The student reportedly used a methodical approach, scrubbing items in large batches and using the empty dishwasher as a drying rack to manage the space. When the father allegedly made the 30-minute comment for the fifth time in a month, the student decided to answer with malicious compliance and follow those instructions to the letter.

The student washed for exactly 30 minutes, then stopped

Right in front of his father, the student reportedly began washing the dishes. At the 29-minute mark, the student claimed they had scrubbed only three pots, two pans, and one ceramic mug. As soon as the 30 minutes expired, the student apparently cleaned the sink and left the soap-covered dishes in the rack before walking away to focus on homework.

The father allegedly reacted by yelling, but the student stood firm, noting that they had done exactly what was asked. The father then supposedly stormed off as the mother sided with the student. However, the malicious compliance did not end there.

Over the following weeks, the student reportedly kept the malicious compliance going with a rigid 30-minute schedule. They claim they would wash only the items needed for that day, leaving the rest of the pile to sit. According to the student, a mountain of dirty dishes remained in the kitchen, as refilling and draining the sink repeatedly ate into the short window they had allocated for the task.

This routine reportedly continued for a couple of months. The student says the father finally reached a breaking point when he ran out of clean coffee mugs for his morning routine and asked the student to return to the original dishwashing method.

According to the student, it took three hours of labor to clear the accumulated pile, and the mother allegedly made sure the father helped by drying and putting away items as they were rinsed. The student then went back to scrubbing in large batches with the empty dishwasher doubling as a drying rack.

Commenters were largely unimpressed with the malicious compliance. Many criticized the student for letting dishes pile up for days, suggesting the practice was unhygienic and could invite pests into the home. Others took aim at the student’s efficiency instead, with one commenter saying they could wash multiple pots and utensils by hand in under 10 minutes and suggesting the student might have been wasting time during the process.

Other commenters criticized the way the student used the sink. One questioned why the student kept refilling it with warm water each time, writing, “What the f— that’s so dumb and wasteful.” Another said, “If it took you 30 minutes to scrub 3 pots, 2 pans, and a mug, your dad has a point and you s— at doing dishes.”