I thought putting a 'no-touching' rule on my leftovers was a good idea, but it has backfired horribly.
By @lanekay · Petty or Nah
My college roommates and I have a huge problem with food disappearing from the fridge. I finally wrote my name on my stuff and said it's off-limits, but now they're treating me like I'm a tyrant and have started a 'fridge war' out of spite.
The full story
so i live in an apartment with three other girls and food theft has been an ongoing issue. it's not like big stuff, but it's annoying. you buy a carton of juice and the next day it's half gone. you have leftover pizza and suddenly a slice is missing. we've talked about it a million times, and everyone denies it. i got sick of it last week after i bought some expensive ice cream and someone ate half of it. i went and bought a sharpie and a roll of masking tape. i went through the fridge and pantry and put my name on EVERYTHING i bought. then i sent a text to our group chat that was like 'hey guys, from now on if it has my name on it, please don't eat it unless you ask. thanks!:)' i thought this was a pretty reasonable solution. apparently not. one of my roommates got super defensive and said i was being passive-aggressive and making the apartment feel like a prison. another one said i was being selfish and that we should all just be willing to share. the third one didn't say anything but has been giving me the cold shoulder ever since. now it's escalated into this dumb, petty war. they've started labeling EVERYTHING of theirs. like, one of them labeled a single egg. another put tape on a half-empty bottle of ketchup. they've started hiding their snacks in their rooms. yesterday, i opened the fridge and saw that one of them had put a literal bike lock on a bag of baby carrots. a BIKE LOCK. it feels so hostile and ridiculous now. all i wanted was for my ice cream to be safe, and now i feel like i started a civil war in my own apartment. was i in the wrong for trying to lay down the law?
How people voted
- OP Is Right — 32% (43 votes)
- Both Messy — 41% (55 votes)
- OP Is Wrong — 27% (36 votes)
Readers are split: “Both Messy” leads with 41% — 134 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@aidenmaybe — Can you not just get a mini-fridge for your own room?
@jakobok — Are you sure you asked them nicely before you started labeling everything?
@milo — A verbal agreement should be enough between people living together.
@mel — You did nothing wrong honey, they're the ones who were stealing your food!
@gussorta — The bike lock on the carrots is art.
Keep reading
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- I ate my roommate's leftover pizza and now she wants me to pay for the whole thing.