I(23) person went out of my way between work shifts to get lemon chicken from my favorite restaurant and had previously gotten it over the weekend.(I like to add im not the best with eating leftovers and have previously given my roomate the okay if I leave food for 5 days it’s up for grabs as I am really picky when it comes to food and have like 3 safe foods I can eat all the time others I might not finish.) I was heading back to work and wanted to save some for later, so I put over half of my meal in my fridge. I went to work ate my snack then came home at 9pm. I saw my leftover pizza bites from 2 days ago on my roommates desk. I told them that I said I would eat them and they were going to be my lunch tomorrow. They responded with oh they been in the fridge for 2 days. I took the pizza back and put it in the fridge thats when I noticed my chicken was missing I asked if they had seen it and was told they ate it. There was Chinese lo mien gone as well as other foods that were gone that they ate so the chicken did not need to be eaten aswell. I said I just bought that and didnt even really get a chance to eat the chicken and got a shrugged off. I left to take my dog out and got a text of I will buy it next time. I responded that I really was looking forward to eating the food and now I dont have dinner after a long shift and I really was only hungery for that specific food. Never got an apology. Am I the asshole?
NTA, and change your rule about leaving food for 5 days then “it’s up for grab” to “never, unless I specifically give you permission.” Apparently, that ambiguity gave your roommate enough cover to justify in their mind stealing from you.
NTA, but your roommate is.
I think NAH.
OP has prefaced this story with they are not good with eating leftovers. They then proceeded to list off like 4 or 5 other leftovers in the fridge that had been eaten? So it seems like OP just leaves food in the fridge to rot unless the roommate eats it, and that’s what they are used to doing. They probably just don’t keep tabs on when exactly the food arrived, or if OP will actually decide to randomly eat one of the countless leftover containers in the fridge.
OP stated they had a standing deal with their roommate that if it has been in the fridge for 5+ days, it’s up for grabs. The two items listed that OP was upset about (the pizza and chicken) did not fall in that time frame. The pizza was 2 days, the chicken was same day.
Maybe OP could add a post-it note with the date the food was put away. But the roommate still was the AH here.
Food containing meat needs tobe ditched in day 3 unless frozen.
Definitely nta, I’ve seen its common, but really? Who eats someone else’s food without at least asking first.
Probably in this very specific dynamic where the OP has listed off a weeks worth of takeout leftovers. They clearly get a lot of food out, leave it in the fridge, and then don’t really ever return to eat it.
NTA, you had a guideline established of 5 days, I’d understand them pushing it to 4 but sounds to me like they’ve gotten a bit too comfortable with helping themselves to your stuff. Might be best to enforce a no taking unless you offer it rule now
NTA. I had a roommate who said she was fine with “sharing all our food” except her stuff was always rotten and moldy, and she and her friends always ate my whole week of groceries when they came home in the middle of the night drunk.
Change the rules, make designated shelves. When you move the food to their shelf, they can have it. If it’s on your shelf, no touchie.
It’s never right to eat someone’s food. If you say hey, there are leftovers in there please feel free. Other than that it’s not ok.
Seems pretty easy to separate your food. You eat what you buy, they eat what they buy. Stop allowing them to eat your food and then it will be there when you go looking for it. Easy fix