Was I wrong to label my food in the shared fridge?
The complainant says
I live in a house share with four others. Food kept going missing: half a block of cheese, yoghurts, the last two eggs, once an entire lasagne I'd made for the week. Nobody ever admitted to anything.
So I bought a label maker and started putting little labels on my things. Nothing rude, just my room number and the date. I also labelled my shelf. Now two of the housemates are making jokes about it in the group chat, calling me 'the auditor' and asking if they need to fill in a form to use the milk.
The other side says the other housemates, as the complainant tells it
They say the house has always been relaxed about sharing basics like milk, butter and bread, and that the labels feel like an accusation aimed at everyone. One of them says they may have used some cheese once assuming it was communal and would have replaced it if asked.
Jury discussion (5 comments)
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An entire lasagne. I would have labelled the housemates.
The auditor is a brilliant nickname though, I'd lean into it.
'Would have replaced it if asked' is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
Labels are the least confrontational possible response to food going missing week after week. They're mocking you because they feel guilty.
In fairness if the house culture was sharing milk and butter, that should have been sorted out as a conversation first. But the lasagne is indefensible.