"AITA for not catering to my roommate's vegan diet?"
So me and my roommate have been living together for about a year and we haven't really had any problems. We're friends so we're fine sharing a few things in the apartment, but one thing we rarely share is food.
Unless we order a pizza or something, what's mine is mine and what's his is his, no exception. So no eating someone else's food, and don't touch their side of the fridge. We basically split the fridge down the middle with little dividers, I get left and he gets right.
Well, recently he went vegan. I thought nothing would change, since we don't share food. However recently he asked me to stop putting raw meats in the bottom crisper (little drawer thing in the fridge) because the juices could leak onto the other side and get on his vegetables and such he puts down there.
Well, in the past he's put stuff other than meat in his side of the crisper, so I asked if it wasn't a problem then why is it now? He said it was because he basically only puts vegetables down there and doesn't want them contaminated.
I'm not usually so stubborn, but that's the best place to put the meat to keep it fresh, so I told him it'll be fine if he just leaves it, but if he really wants to he can just move his stuff elsewhere. He said there was no room, but I basically said that it's his side of the fridge and that's his problem.
That wasn't the end of it though. Yesterday I saw him touching my side of the fridge. I didn't want to be childish, so I just shrugged it off and didn't mention it.
However, I saw that he'd moved my raw meat and put it right on top of some yogurt I had bought. Not just that, but it was VERY precariously perched on there, it nearly fell when I opened the fridge.
I was kinda mad, because what if the juices DID leak? They'd go right onto or into the yogurt and get me sick. He was complaining about that, so in my mind it's a bit hypocritical.
Also the meat would be less fresh, it could've fell, and he's messing with my stuff even though we agreed not to do that to each other.
I confronted him about it but he said I'm being childish and said that he's going to continue to move my stuff as to not mess his up. I just put my stuff back where I had it and told him not to mess with it. AITA?
Here were the top rated comments from readers:
EHS. If it's not a big to rearrange his side, it's not a big deal to rearrange yours. The drawer is designed for vegetables, your meat will be just as fresh if placed on the lowest shelf. And you should place meat on a tray or something for the juices anyway.
I also find it ironic that you're getting bent out of shape over the meat juices potentially contaminating your yoghurt but when he brought up his concerns about it, you shrugged him off. He shouldn't be touching your side though if that's against the rules of your place.
YTA, the drawer you are using is a vegetable crisper drawer and recommendations for food hygiene are to keep meat (especially open meat) separate from other things in the fridge. There's a reason you were annoyed that the meat ended up on your yoghurt, and it's because you are aware that there is potential for leakage onto other food items.
You need to come to an agreement about this, but even prior to your mate going vegetarian, I would have been iffy about how/ where you stored your meat if I was him.
NTA....BUT....How about you compromise and get a reusable and washable container and put your meat into it before you store it? This way you can still put your meat where it fits best on your side of the fridge AND you keep it from potentially 'leaking' on his side.
They don't even have to be expensive. A Ziploc bag can be easily turned inside out and washed to reuse it to avoid having excess plastic waste. I've only ever had well packaged meat 'leak' a handful of times ever in my life but sometimes you just...do a little bit of silly compromise to keep the peace.
Edit: It doesn't really matter who provides or uses the container. I suggested OP should just because then they just solve the problem without further discussion between the two of them. Also...if the meat did leak, OP's container would be easier to clean up than two crisper drawers and the bottom of the fridge. Just saying.
Do it now. Leaking meat package sucks and I hate cleaning it up.
Oh yeah, it's super gross, especially if it sits for even half an hour before you see/realize it happened. And if it happens say, when everyone's in work, and it's a few hours before it's cleaned, oh boy have you got a stinky fridge! At least the container can be closed/taken straight out the fridge!
The OP responded here:
I'm probably gonna do this if it keeps being an issue for him tbh.