Pete Jordan turned the ordinary job of washing dishes into something much larger: a quest. After washing dishes in a few different restaurants, he realized that there was definitely a dishwashing culture. Since the jobs were easy to get and easy to quit, the types of people that were attracted to the jobs were usually drifters who went from one job to the next and one town to the next. This inspired Pete to make a goal of washing dishes in all 50 states. He purchased a rusty Volkswagen van and started cross country.

In the 90's, he started self-publishing a 'zine full of dishwashing stories compiled from his own experiences and the experiences of friends of his on the job. The 'zine became such a success, that he was asked to share his stories on NPR's This American Life, as well as appear on The Late Show with David Letterman. However, Pete had no interest in being on TV. So, he sat in the green room and ate free sandwiches while his friend Jess went on stage and pretended to be him. You can see the full clip here.

Pete only made it through 33 states, but all of his adventures are compiled in his first full-length book, entitled Dishwasher. He now lives in Amsterdam with his wife and son and is training to be a bicycle mechanic and working on building his writing career. Here he (really) is on Letterman, promoting the new book: