I was just having a conversation with my friend about the dangers of McDonalds and how the food is straight up rat poison (he just heard about the McRib, which I wanna try, but I’m deathly afraid to. The fat in that may just drop kick my artery – HIYAAAHHH!!! Instant death). He responded with “cant wait for the day when i afford to only buy the poison at whole foods or @ Yes Organic!” And at that moment, I had a small epiphany. I’m convinced that grocery stores and refrigerator makers are in total cahoots!

Why is a fridge so big? Everytime I go to the grocery store, I feel pressed to make sure I buy up enough things to fill my fridge and freezer, whether or not I need the actual groceries. Because I truly hate staring into the back of my fridge. Makes me feel like I’m in college and suffering with scurvy all over again. And I’m grown now with a job, paying my own bills. So I’m sure I can afford to fill the fridge anyway. 

SO I go to Publix, spend $150 on some food, cart looks slightly full so I feel pretty good, I walk to my car, load in my 8 bags and head home. When I’m done unpacking in the fridge and the pantry, guess what? I’m still pretty much staring at the back of the damn fridge!! The top shelf has 2 Dole juices and the Brita that lives there. 2nd shelf: 1 loaf of whole wheat bread, half of a tomato, half onion, mini box of egg whites, fruit. 3rd shelf: bag of flour that’s been there forever, along with the oatmeal and cornstarch that are the same age as the flour! Crisper drawer: bag of spinach, onions, scallions, carrots, bunch of random green foods. 

Bottom drawer: like 20 bottles of spring water that my roommate put in there (I don’t know how he eats. All the groceries in the fridge are mine. Except that almost empty container of feta cheese that’s been there since ’72). Anyhoo, that’s my fridge: DONE. Freezer: chicken breast, salmon, frozen veggies, frozen dinners, box of waffles. DONE. Pantry, like 4 cans of beans and canned veggies. 

I look around at my inventory and am now wondering, seriously, what here did I list out for $150? Does my massive Frigidaire sound full to you? Think of your average sized fridge (the side by side, not the top/bottom one), and now imagine my fridge! Still MIGHTY EMPTY! Then a friend comes over, looks in my fridge, asks me if I’m on a diet, or if I’m broke and cant afford food, and says I need to stock up. Ugh! So I’m compelled 2 days later to go back and drop another hundred bucks to further fill the damn refrigerator!!! 

But guess what I noticed? The food that I’ve purchased is MORE THAN ENOUGH for just me. Feeds me quite well for the next 2 weeks. Everyday. Breakfast/lunch/dinner. SO I now believe it’s a mental thing. Grocery chains call up GE and Maytag and Frigidaire and I’m sure the conversation goes a little something like this “Hey Johnny, that new fridge you’re making, yea, make sure the fridge is big and deep. So what if it’s only a 1 person household? They need a big fridge anyway. Just in case they throw a party and need to store leftovers….yea, that’s right…leftovers…we’ll go with that…”