WIBTA if I told my roommate’s girlfriend to stop putting my eggs in the fridge again?

A Reddit user is contemplating whether they would be in the wrong for telling their roommate’s girlfriend, Julie, to stop putting their eggs in the fridge. The user has always kept their eggs at room temperature, a practice influenced by their family’s traditions.

Despite repeatedly communicating their preference to Julie, she continues to put the eggs in the fridge for her comfort. The user feels frustrated by this and is unsure if addressing the issue would cause unnecessary tension. Read the full story below for more details.

‘ WIBTA if I told my roommate’s girlfriend to stop putting my eggs in the fridge again?’

I currently live with 4 roommates. Last week, one of my roommates (Megan) invited her girlfriend (Julie) to stay over at our house for about a week. Julie is very sweet and I had absolutely no issue with her staying, and neither did anyone else in the house. The same day that Julie arrived, I noticed that we were out of eggs since they weren’t on the counter where they usually are.

I just assumed we were out and I was planning on buying more. While I was cooking that night, I opened the fridge and saw all of the eggs sitting inside of the fridge. I asked out loud why they were in the fridge, and Julie spoke up and said that eggs are meant to be kept in the fridge. I explained to her that I have never, in my entire life, refrigerated my eggs.

My mom moved to the US when she was 19, and my dad moved to the US when he was 8 with his parents. They’re both immigrants. My parents love eggs and so do I, so we would have them all of them time, and they were never once refrigerated. They just kept them in the pantry until they were eaten.

Sometimes we would have up to 4-5 cartons of eggs just sitting in the pantry, and none of us ever got sick or had any issue with rotten/spoiled eggs. For reference, they would buy their eggs from Publix or Costco.

Julie seemed really surprised about what I said, and she explained that since eggs are washed in the US, its bad to keep eggs unrefrigerated for longer than 2-3 hours. I told her I understood what she was saying, but that I prefer to keep them on the counter, especially since I bought the eggs.

I was the only one who ever ate eggs, and we only have them because of me. So, I took them out of the fridge. I thought that it, but the next day I noticed the eggs were back in the fridge. So I asked again, and Megan mentioned that Julie just felt better having them in the fridge. I told her that they were my eggs, in my house, and Id like them to stay out.

But every single day, for 6 days straight, I would find the eggs in the fridge. I had communicated multiple times that it bothers me. I talked to my other two roommates, and they agree that its my decision since I’ll be eating them. At this point I genuinely feel like I can’t/shouldn’t say anything since Julie leaves today, but it really bothered me.

I didn’t like that Megan allowed Julie to move many things around our house (including eggs, dishes, appliances, and a few other things) without asking. She would do this nearly every day. I tried to be nice to Julie because I didn’t want to argue. I did address it a few times and she ignored it, dismissed it, and then continued the behavior.

Julie and Megan are in a serious long-term relationship, so I know she will be back to visit, which is why I want to tell her to stop. I just don’t want to upset anyone or cause tension for something stupid.So… WIBTA if I told my roommate’s girlfriend to stop putting my eggs in the fridge again?

Here’s how people reacted to the post:

sidewaysorange −  umm if they aren’t fresh from the chicken and have been washed and are store bought you need to put them in the fridge. my BIL wife was from another country and used to keep them on the counter and couldn’t figure out why we all kept getting food poisoning from her cooking.

Im gonna go out on a limb and say YTA bc when you know better you do better and you should just listen to people sometimes when it comes to food safety. We dont care what your mom did in the motherland. ITs not safe.

ahknewb −  So two things are true here: 1. In the US, grocery store eggs need to be put in the fridge. “my family has always done it that way” isn’t a good reason. Farm fresh eggs are different and can stay out. 2. Your house+your eggs = your unsanitary rule. NTA. But seriously, put your eggs in the dang fridge.

Upstairs_Ad_5574 −  So lemme get this right… You go to ANY GROCERY store, pull eggs out of the FRIDGE SECTION, carry the COLD EGGS to the cashier, PURCHASE them. Bring them home and act like your roommates are the AHs for keeping them in the fridge?

FlamingoInCoveralls −  YTA because you are endangering your housemates by keeping them on the counter and possibly exposing them to the bacteria.

I understand where you are coming from because I grew up around farms and prefer farm fresh eggs which would not need refrigeration, but the eggs you buy at Costco do need to be refrigerated. Just because you haven’t been sick or made anyone else sick yet doesn’t mean it’s not coming. Refrigerate your eggs.

Discount_Mithral −  I mean… NTA. But she is right, eggs in the US are ~~pasteurized~~ washed and DO need to be refrigerated. If you do things a specific way in your house, that’s on you and I’m shocked you haven’t gotten sick yet. But that’s not the point here. You can store your eggs wherever you want… but if they are US based eggs from any store, they do, in fact, need to be in the fridge.

hardchairforce −  YTA, im giving it to them, they are right, its completely unsanitary to leave washed eggs out and if you’re going to have roommates, paying roommates, they have a reasonable expectation that there wont be unsanitary conditions.

Just because youre the only one eating them, it doesnt mean they should have to put up with slowly rotting eggs on the counter.. If it was your habit to not flush, would it be reasonable to be mad if they went and flushed the toilet? Its gross, no one wants to live in gross.

Active-Anteater1884 −  Yeah, sorry. I suspect this is going to be controversial, but you’re moving into YTA territory. Eggs are processed differently in different parts of the world. You come form a culture where it’s OK to leave the eggs out. Totally makes sense.

But here in the states, it’s bad to leave the eggs out — again, because of the way they’re prepped before sale. So what you’re doing is insisting that your roommates live in a situation where food is being handled improperly. Your argument is, “They’re my eggs.”

Which would seem to make sense but, just for a silly comparison — should you be allowed to leave meat to rot on the table because “It’s my meat?” No, of course not. But you’re asking your roommates to live in the same “I don’t care about food handling” environment. Do everyone (mostly yourself) a favor and stick your eggs in the fridge.

ObfusKate_ −  Your eggs. Your salmonella poisoning.. NTA’. But weird little hill you’ve chosen

Acrobatic_Hippo_9593 −  You’re willing to take the risk, however others are not. You’re touching them and touching other surfaces. It doesn’t take much salmonella to make someone sick.

So, unless you are sanitizing every single thing you touch after you touch one of the eggs, the egg carton, etc… you’re actually putting everyone at risk for getting it. I get that it’s annoying because she doesn’t live there, but she should be allowed to be safe from foodbourne illness while visiting her girlfriend. Because it can affect others around you, YTA.

Karabaja007 −  I assume that you eat them fast after buying so that’s why you didn’t get sick yet and you have been incredibly lucky.You should buy a mini fridge for the eggs that doesn’t freeze them. I put eggs in the fridge in Europe( they are not washed here) so that they last longer.