How wonderful it is that before starting a family life with any significant other, many people start by living together with friends! In fact, this solves lots of problems - after all, every person needs to interact with other people properly. Each of us has our own ideas about home, beauty, life and relationships... literally everything, so in fact, co-living is like a trial family life.
After all, if you do not get along with your spouse, then the divorce process in any case will become a great stress for both ex-partners, both as a psychological and a financial problem. It's not that friendship is less important than love - it just so happens that we often forgive friends in conflict more than partners. Even completely ugly behavior in the kitchen...
The story we are about to tell you today appeared on the AITA Reddit community at the end of last year, and as of today has almost 900 upvotes and nearly 300 different comments. Not as much, of course, as some representatives of the "family drama" genre, but on the other hand, this conflict could well teach both its participants to get along better with people. Or could not... In any case, let's talk about everything in order.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post is a student who shares an apartment with her friend
Image credits: Mark Ittleman (not the actual photo)
So, the author of the original post is a 19-year-old student who, after living together on campus with her friend, continued their co-living by renting an apartment together. It's amazing how different people can be when it comes to home life even at a fairly young age - the Original Poster moved in with her own set of kitchen utensils and her friend had literally nothing, so the OP let her roommate use her own utensils.
Image credits: Elegant_Bullfrog4794
The roommate was allowed to use the author's pans and pots and she treated them very poorly
Time passed, friends studied, hung out with friends, kept a joint household - and the OP began to notice that her set of quite decent frying pans, pots and plates began to gradually deteriorate. Our heroine had already caught her friend several times scraping the pan with a metal spatula, and sometimes even with a knife. She invariably explained to the hapless cook that doing so was the best way to ruin the pan coating. The roommate just as invariably swore that she would follow these tips, but the next time everything just repeated...
Image credits: Elegant_Bullfrog4794
As a result, the author of the post lost one pan, then another one... gradually the entire set of dishes became a collection of scrap metal, and the roommate still used literally the first item from the shelf for her cooking. One day, the OP noticed her friend slicing up some chicken right in the pan while cooking - basically using the stove as a cutting board. Our heroine could no longer withstand this...
Image credits: Elegant_Bullfrog4794
After the hapless cook ruined nearly the whole set, the author bought another one - and banned her from using it at all
A short dialogue followed, saturated with expressive (and probably not entirely censored) expressions from the Original Poster's side, and as a result of the fight, the author explicitly forbade her friend to use any of her pans. The guilty one, in turn, stated that her roommate looks really ridiculous, paying too much attention to things that doesn't matter at all. But the OP was already adamant in her decision.
Image credits: Elegant_Bullfrog4794
A quarrel arose, and the roommate just claimed that the author is being ridiculous
No sooner said than done. The Original Poster bought a new set of pans and pots, and simply locked them up in her own room, depriving the roommate of access and the ability to ruin anything. The friends had another ugly fight, and the next day, when our heroine's boyfriend came over to visit her, the roommate even put on a whole show by cooking scrambled eggs in a makeshift metal foil frying pan.
Image credits: shawn (not the actual photo)
The boyfriend, however, also thought that the OP was making mountains out of molehills, and said that such a trifle was not worth a quarrel between friends. The author even conducted a small survey among her friends and acquaintances, and opinions were divided. Some fully supported our heroine, others considered the reason for the quarrel ridiculous, and others simply said that she should give her friend her old pans - and let her continue to ruin them!
However, most people in the comments sided with the author, suggesting that she even look for a new roommate
By the way, the people in the comments to the original post, in fact, gave the author way more support than her boyfriend. First, according to some commenters, the Original Poster is being controlling of her stuff because it literally belongs to her. Secondly, her friend, having ruined at least one pan, did nothing to replace it. Thirdly, commenters honestly admit that this is their first time hearing about a person who is such a poor cook that they would cut chicken straight in the pan.
Some commenters were also outraged by the roommate's statement that the OP's being ridiculous about how she cares for her own pans. "She needs to grow up and learn to treat others' belongings with respect," the person in the comments notes. Moreover, some people even go further, advising the Original Poster to be more careful in choosing her roommates. "She ruined your property. Look for a new roommate ASAP," one commenter summarizes.
By the way, it is quite possible that the author's friend would find our selection of kitchen life hacks from different people from all over the world useful. We, in turn, are already looking forward to your comments on this tale, so please feel free to leave them below.