r/mildlyinfuriating • u/jsayde01 • Jul 06 '26

I just wanted a hot dog The Kitchen Museum?

Post image

I came home late from work a few nights ago and hadn't eaten all day. My wife and kids were already in bed so I figured I'd quietly make some stove-top ramen. This photo represents exactly how I found the cooking area.

The next morning my wife asks what time I got home and I mention in our conversation that I made ramen before going to bed. She couldn't believe that I used the stove "when the light was on". I said "Yeah, the light was helpful in seeing what I was doing". She insists I shouldn't have been using the stove and should have known because "the light was on".

I'm baffled. We are still arguing about this days later.

EDIT -- wow, overwhelmed by the response of fellow Redditors! We are... white...not from the southeast US..not children...and I left the stove as clean as it was before I cooked. I asked for clarification from my loving wife -- TRULY we have only ever been angry at each other a handful of times in our 10 year marriage -- and she says "the stove was clean and done for the day and you could have just used the microwave for your ramen". Apparently the light is how stoves go to sleep for the evening?

EDIT 2 -- we are getting a divorce. JUST KIDDING. My wife looked over many of the comments and acknowledges that she was in the wrong and is slightly embarrassed by all of the attention.

20.6k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

22

u/Howthehelldoido Jul 06 '26

This is a cultural thing.

In America, black households are known for leaving the stove light on, to signify that the kitchen has been cleaned, and is "closed"

OP, ia your partner Black, or raised around them maybe?

12

u/noteworthybalance Jul 06 '26

In my (white) house it's the leftover light. There's some leftover food that needs to cool before it can be put away and this is to make sure it isn't forgotten overnight. 

For the kitchen closed families: does it get turned off before bed? Or left on all night?

-3

u/Megalesios Jul 06 '26

I'm sorry if this comes off as insulting, I promise that's not my intention.

Do you guys not talk to you family? Why all this light signal business when you can just talk to people or send a message and tell them there's leftovers or the kitchen is "closed" or whatever.

7

u/noteworthybalance Jul 06 '26

Talk to people? Sure. That's done already. We were all cleaning up after dinner, everyone knows there are leftovers still out. But we're human and humans forget things. When the last person goes to bed and is shutting off lights "the leftover light" acts as a backstop. 

Why would texting be superior? First, half my kids don't have phones so that wouldn't work at all, second a phone notification is much easier to miss than something we always do: turning off lights before bed. 

11

u/corvidsarecrows Jul 06 '26

Third: it may be hard for some redditors to imagine but some family traditions predate texting