When it comes to household chores, we all have our quirks—but one man’s kitchen blunder is not being forgiven so easily.
The Internet is raging at TikToker Rachael (@littlereadwriter)’s partner after she posted a video revealing his method of putting away a tray of macaroni and cheese: squishing the open tray underneath an array of other food items and containers. Since it was posted, the video has received nearly 200,000 likes and over 6,500 comments, prompting Rachael to make a follow-up video.
“When you asked him to put away the leftover mac and cheese last night,” she captioned the video. “This is criminal behavior.”
Viewers in the comments agreed. A simple comment urging Rachael to “leave him” received over 96,000 likes.
“The fact that you got this on camera after seeing it,” @t1g3r.04 said. “I would have been packing my bags baby.”
“Not only did he put it in without covering it, he then put stuff on top. Sis, the blatant disrespect is loud,” @alphafoxtrot1954 wrote.
“How can I do what she asked but also make sure she doesn’t ask me again?” @louclarke85 said, mimicking what they suspect of Rachael’s partner’s thought process.
“He literally did this to punish you for asking him to put it away,” @user6561271339281 wrote. “It only gets worse.”
“Weaponized Incompetence”
Several commenters mentioned the idea of “weaponized incompetence” and stressed that Rachael’s partner may be employing this.
Weaponized incompetence, or strategic incompetence, is a term used when someone performs a task poorly or acts as if they cannot do it at all so that those around them can pick up more work. Weaponized incompetence has been discussed largely within the domain of the household because it leads to the unequal division of labor along gendered lines.
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After viewers on TikTok saw Rachael’s partner’s less-than-stellar work, red flags for weaponized incompetence went up.
“After seeing so many TikToks on weaponized incompetence, I’d be out,” @leeleefoxx wrote.
The comments prompted Rachael to record a follow-up video addressing the controversy. She noted that the macaroni and cheese was put away “kind of crazily,” but she said viewers should not take it so seriously.
“Life’s not that serious,” she said in the video. “Sometimes people do silly things. We were so tired when we got home from the event…things happen, guys. Keep laughing.”
While Rachael turned off commenting on her follow-up video, some viewers returned to the original to react, still not accepting that her partner’s act was harmless.
“The way she says it’s not that serious, but it really is,” @realbobbiehill wrote. “And represents something so much bigger.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.