Opus 2022-194: Games: That’s Cold

We play a lot of games that infringe on our radar only a tad.  One of those is the game of Refrigerator Dominance.  It may be a mutation of Male Refrigerator Blindness (MRB) which can be either a game or a condition.  It is similar in that it involves both men and women.  It is also the same genre because it can be played other places such as the kitchen cupboards.  

Refrigerator Dominance is about how different containers are placed in a refrigerator.  The naive observer might suggest such things as availability or frequency of use as conditions for location.  Not so.  The chief qualification is the sense of entitlement dominating the placer.  There is a feeling that objects they feel are important should be given primary placement.    

My things get moved to a lower shelf.  I would open the door, reach for a jar in the spot I left it and come up empty handed.  Well, not empty, but the contents are not what I expected.  I had a small spray bottle of artificial butter that I used several times a day.  There was an empty spot that I had been filling and making useful.  Suddenly, after months of routine, my bottle was down a shelf and a bottle of ketchup had been relocated.  

How do I respond?  My first response is to shrug my shoulders, act like an adult and get used to the new location.  I am willing to do so because I Corinthians 13:5 says love “does not seek its own, is not provoked.”  It does not become a problem until the playoffs begin.

The playoffs are when it becomes a public issue.  It seems it is not enough to move my stuff to the bottom shelf.  Suddenly comments are needed.  It seems that the entire refrigerator is dominated by my stuff.  Who would have known?  I didn’t know until it was announced to visitors.  It is hard to understand how a jar of pickles takes up more space than two jars of mayonnaise, a jar of Miracle Whip and a bottle of ketchup.  That may just be a symptom of MRB.

homo unius libri