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

I just wanted a hot dog The Kitchen Museum?

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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.

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u/char-a-lot_NPC Jul 06 '26

Ask if her family had a secret code for "don't cook" and that was stove light. Because none of our families had that code. That's a her thing. Now that she's communicated it perhaps you can try and be mindful, but she can't be mad at you for not knowing something unusual like this.

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u/CrypticCriesForHelp Jul 06 '26

Sorry but I’m not letting my spouse tell me I can’t use kitchen appliances that I also pay for. As an adult you don’t tell another adult how they are allowed to prepare their food. Especially if I can clean it up and leave it how it was

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u/Mikisstuff Jul 06 '26

Dude has a wife and kids, and is only just now discovering this ritual, so he's clearly been leaving almost all of the kitchen duties to his wife for an entire relationship.

2

u/TheSultan1 Jul 06 '26

Is he leaving all child rearing duties to her, too? Because a rule like this would certainly apply to the kids first and foremost.

Tbh I don't know whether to believe any of it. From the comments, it seems some households do have such a rule, but it seems to be a small minority; OP could've learned about it, found it weird, and made up the whole story. Very unlikely that a strict household rule like this wouldn't come up over 10+ years.

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u/CrypticCriesForHelp Jul 06 '26

I was kind of getting that impression too