Domestic Bliss

My dishwasher is holding my dishes hostage. For real. I can not open the door. About 3 months ago, the lever that locks the door broke, and it has been getting harder and harder to open ever since. When you could still get the door open, you needed to be very careful as the spring mechanism which supported the door and allowed it to gently glide open was also broken a bit, so the door was a little heavier than expected. A few nights ago, the door inexplicably fell open and completely ruined the gizmo that holds the door up. After that, when the door was open, it was nearly resting on the floor. That made unpacking the dishwasher a bit of a challenge as the racks that hold the dishes would just sort of SHOOT out of the dishwasher and you had to be ready to catch them. So now I don't know what to do to free my dishes. I tried sticking a screwdriver into the latch and wiggling it free, but all I succeeded in doing is breaking something else deep inside the lock. I guess I need to re-think my stand against using disposable plates and cups in my home, or go buy a new dishwasher and some new dishes to go with it.