Can it be? Can you really determine whether someone is worthy of a relationship based on what they’ve got in their fridge? I'm skeptical, but according to John Stonehill and his website, CheckTheirFridge.com, yes. Yes you can.
The Daily Mail reports that Stonehill started checking the fridges of his own dates when he was in college; now 42 and married, he considers himself a “refrigerator dating expert.” Not sure whether the guy or gal you’re currently seeing is worth getting more serious with? Find a way to surreptitiously snap a picture of the inside of their fridge and send it to Stonehill — he’ll tell you.
Does anyone else suddenly have a mental image of Benedict Cumberbatch going all Sherlock on their kitchen?
Stonehill says that every person should have wine, an hors d’ouevre, bottled water, freezer munchies, and dessert in their fridge. Red flags, meanwhile, range from the understandable (entire dead animals, bodily fluids, grime) to the I’m-not-totally-sure-I-agree (pet food, non-name-brand ketchup). Stonehill cites what was in his future wife’s fridge when they met as an example of a “good” fridge: “She had an upmarket GE model fridge, a nice bottle of champagne, a bottle of wine, a couple of high-end condiments, bottled water, and some cheese,” he told the Daily Mail. He further analyzed what he saw as follows:
“I love people that have champagne in their fridge, it’s all about spontaneous celebration. I didn’t know if she was the one, but I knew she was financially independent, social, fun, and would never cook for me. Because she had a water dispenser on the fridge, I knew she probably exercised because she could get water from the dispenser and the bottled water must be when she was on the move. I also knew she must eat out a lot because there was no food, and to this day she has never cooked for me."
Of course, the Stonehills met in 2010; given that John is 42 now, it’s probably reasonable to assume that they were in their late 30s at the time, which means they were probably pretty financially stable. It implies to me that 20-somethings who may still be struggling to pay their rent, student loans, bills, and so on (such is the nature of an awful economy) may be out of luck by the standards of CheckTheirFridge.com. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many 20-somethings who can afford to keep a bottle of champagne and high-end condiments around all the time. Or, y'know, what happens if you just happen to catch someone at a time when they haven't had the chance to go grocery shopping in a while? Perhaps a liiiiiiittle more should be taken into account when summing up a person than just the contents of their fridge.
But hey, it’s still kind of a fun gimmick. Got a fridge you want Stonehill to take a look at? Send it to him at CheckTheirFridge.com. Happy dating!
Image: Fotolia
