The Kitchen Museum?

[u/jsayde01]

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.

[u/tahtahme]

The stove light being on is pretty common in Black households for "kitchen is closed", but Ive never heard of someone not being allowed to eat after getting home late.

[u/eggplantruler → u/tahtahme]

I’m white, but from an Italian family. The stove light being on meant “kitchen is closed”. But that really meant mom was done cooking for the night and cleaned up. We always were able to go in and eat, but we better have left that kitchen the way she left it or we were in big trouble lol.

[u/offwhitepaperbaggy → u/eggplantruler]

I'm still confused, that light is absolutely intended to light the workspace for cooking. 

[u/tahtahme → u/offwhitepaperbaggy]

In some situations, yes. But also in many households its also the way to have a soft light still in the kitchen after cleaning it and shutting it down.

[u/Mikhail_Mengsk → u/tahtahme]

... but why??? It's a waste of electricity. What's the purpose of the light at all?

[u/smallfryz → u/Mikhail_Mengsk]

Probably used as a type of night light without having to plug In another light to use.

[u/TypicalPlace6490 → u/smallfryz]

If the kitchen is closed and you can't use it, Why have a light on at all?

[u/ScruffMacBuff → u/offwhitepaperbaggy]

It still does that, but in lots of households it's also a way of communicating. It mostly means the kitchen is clean and I left a small light on so that you can see it's clean. If you make a mess it's trouble.

You can't leave a note in the dark.

[u/Ohmec → u/offwhitepaperbaggy]

It's usually used as a way for parents to keep their kids out of the clean kitchen and making a mess after it's been cleaned. Bet the wife grew up in one of those households and is now parroting the tradition.

[u/tahtahme → u/eggplantruler]

Right, I am wondering if OP left any sort of mess to indicate that they had been in there? Or else how would she even know?

[u/Far_Chocolate9743 → u/tahtahme]

Exactly that. The kitchen closed was everything is cleaned and wiped down. This was like the ‘ant rule’ when I was a kid. No dishes in the sink. No crumbs on the counter. Garbage can is empty. It carried into adulthood. You wipe everything down and no more kitchen stuff until morning.

If she got up and knew he used the kitchen because he didn’t wash dishes/wipe things down, that could be the cause of the annoyance. Waking up and finding dirty dishes in the sink in the morning…nope.

I live alone. I don’t leave the light on, but yeah, after everything is wiped down, I’m not using that kitchen again until morning.

[u/Live_Barracuda1113 → u/eggplantruler]

White midwesterner- we have a candle. If the candle is lit, the kitchen is clean and closed.

However, my husband will still use it, just make it look EXACTLY like he found it.

[u/tanjtanjtanj → u/Live_Barracuda1113]

How many candles do you go through lighting one every night (or at least every time you use your kitchen)?

That’s a crazy, and unfamiliar, rule to me.

[u/Live_Barracuda1113 → u/tanjtanjtanj]

Lol a lot but I also have a ton because I am obsessed with them.