Thursday, November 02, 2006

Monday Rant (Delayed): Refridgerator Interior Design

This is closely linked to the issue I took earlier with a wide-spread incompetence regarding plastic containers and their lids.

Why do people so often place random items into a refridgerator without regard for the spatial fit of that item? Specifically, why do I always have to move the tiny little jam jar out of the way on the only shelf with enough vertical space for the milk jug? I mean, I'm standing right there, holding 4 litres of milk in a wide, tall plastic jug. I just poured myself a glass of milk to go with the chocolate cake I'm eating - a combination even many strongly anti-milk people I know will admit is highly appropriate - and I'm about to put it back into the 'fridge. So why did you put the plate of butter on that shelf? WTF?

This problem, this bizarre error, this failure to process spatial data, is usually restricted to the top-right shelf, the only shelf with more than 20 cm of vertical clearance. However, this problem leaks to other parts of the appliance. Ridiculously unstable small bottles (typically hot sauce or other condiments) placed in inappropriately space-consuming positions in the door. A jar of bread-yeast in the cheese bin. A plate of some unidentified leftover balanced atop a loaf of bread and a jar of mayonaise. The list of odd encounters goes on.

When you open your 'fridge, does your brain de-activate, or partially de-activate, on exposure to brighly-lit cold things? What the hell is going on inside your head?

"Hmm... where did I put that bottle of beer...?"
[creeeaak. shumpph]
"Woa. I forgot to put away the relish."
[relish is placed in FIRST OPEN SPACE in 'fridge]
"Huh... why is the 'fridge open? Oh well, looks like Friends is on."

At least, that's how I imagine the inner workings of the clueless.

1 comment:

Carlo said...

I think that refridgerator shelving space would be greatly aided by some sort of standardization in container sizes. I guess that all I'm asking for is some form of stack-ability in small containers so that I can make more efficient use of space. For instance, I bought this delicious gourmet-honey mustard sauce that comes in a squat, round, jar. But the lid is narrower than the base, and therefore though the jar is only ~5cm tall, nothing can be stacked on it, making it take up more space than it should... This is a travesty of reason.