Tuesday, July 11, 2006

the memory of milk


this is the door to the fridge in the doctors mess.

each of the bottles has about 30mL of milk left in the bottom. there are about 15 full unopened bottles in the fridge itself.

people do not finish the bottles. some unspoken fear of drinking the milk at bottom of the bottles prevents them from doing so. they replace the bottles in the door and open a new one, which, in time, also joins the graveyard of nearly finished bottles. the milk remnants are perfectly drinkable and at the correct temperature (cold).

no one speaks of this. lips remain tightly shut, heads turn away. it is the way it has always been and it is the way it shall always be.

what has happened here? who is controlling this?

it puzzles and concerns me. we are NOT who we appear to be.

i glance around furtively in fear that i may at any moment be hoisted into a massive NHS wicker man.

[i am listening to Eleanor Put Your Boots On by Franz Ferdinand]

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dare you to amalgamate all the leftovers in the nearly finished bottles into one bottle...
and see if it gets used up. :-)

Anonymous said...

sounds like a brilliant plan... as long as you are not discovered.

Kate Mc said...

Hahahahaha... The fridge at York Minster library reminds me slightly of that... although on a much less grand scale (there's only 6 employees...).

And lovely music choice - that's one of their better songs, I find.

Dazed And Confused said...

anonymi: i nearly did so last night but then got worried that what if one bottle was near to going off date and the others weren't then what if i gave everyone listeria or something. so i chickened out and watched lord of the rings the return of the king instead.

kate: first time our fridge has been called grand. she will be pleased :)

Anonymous said...

giving all the doctors 'listeria or something' would have been pretty bad, by anyone's standards... i suppose a good movie probably makes up for it in some way, some how.

Anonymous said...

When I was in similar circs, I bought yet another carton of milk, but when I opened it, I wrote 'date opened' (with the date, obviously) on it, so people knew what they were playing with, milk-wise.

And carry out a rigorous 'sniff and bin' policy. Very satisfying.

Dazed And Confused said...

the return of the king is a fine movie so long as you can get over the bizarre hobbits bouncing on Frodo's bed at the end.

the problem with the milk is not that it's gone off (which it never does because the cleaner empties the fridge regularly) but that people just ahve a fear of the last few mLs. i don't understand. it's making me quite upset and breathless.

Anonymous said...

then do something about it! go on, be brave. if frodo can carry the ring, you can amalgamate the milk! ;)
otherwise, chill out, and accept another wierd feature of human nature. perhaps another good movie may help?

Anonymous said...

The World's Fastest Indian is a brilliant film, if you want a recommendation, which I doubt.

Anonymous said...

Tis, quite simple... if you use the last of the milk, you have to rinse the bottle out, and put it in the bin... which is far more effort than putting it back in the fridge.

(no, no, no... my fridge is NOT full of milk cartons... it isn't... I don't buy yhe evil stuff... because I'd have to throw the cartons in the bin)

Laziness..

;o)

peace said...

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