More detail:
You’ve taken the raw bacon out of the package and put it into the skillet. Your mother sees that you are cooking bacon so she goes to the refrigerator and pulls out some bacon she already cooked the day before and lays it on the counter beside you, telling you that there is cooked bacon already on hand.
What do you do?
A. Put the uncooked bacon in your skillet back into the package and back into the refrigerator?
B. Continue to cook the 3 strips of bacon you have pulled out? Or
C. Ask for clarification as to what she wants you to do?
This situation erupted into a dispute because I put the bacon back into the refrigerator, thinking this was what she wanted me to do. She is 79 and bordering on Alzheimer’s. I’m wondering if I’m going crazy, or is she? She has been Obsessive/Compulsive all her life. Monk is her hero. How could I have handled this situation better than by obliging her seemingly obvious request?
And I did ask her specifically, what she wanted me to do. She became incredibly defensive, claiming I was criticizing her and that she could never do anything right. I never criticize her. But as an approval seeker, she takes issue with the tiniest of things.
I’m recommending she get out more. But at 79 with immunity issues, that prescription is easier said than done.
So I think I just suck this one up and forget about it, right?
Or is this situation dysfunctional enough to warrant additional help?
A….and washed the pan.
The only way to handle it better would be to ask her what she wanted you to do….you can’t win with someone who has OCD though….sorry.
it’s bacon. who cares?
A
C, or cook the bacon you pulled out with the the bacon she pulled out.
Fry and eat the bacon you took out
I’d continue cooking the bacon, then use all the bacon to make two sandwiches, one to eat and one to share with her. Then I’d thank her for making enough bacon that we could share.
Eat the already cooked bacon and make some fresh bacon in the process!
Cook it. There is never enough bacon.
if your asking this question seriously i have to wonder if you dont have some kind of mental illness as well
does it really matter what you do??? finish coooking it and eat it all…..or put it back why is it so hard
Not sure I’m understanding you correctly. Did you put the uncooked bacon back or the cooked bacon that she placed on the counter?
It seems to me that she expected you to reheat the bacon she placed on the counter and eat it so you wouldn’t need to cook more bacon.
People of her generation usually worry about wasting food.
If you just turned around and put her cooked bacon back in the fridge, then I could see why she might be upset. Even though to us it may seem unreasonable, we have to remember that people in their late 70’s have been through a lot more than we have and she probably took it as you being wasteful in cooking more bacon when there was (in her eyes) perfectly good bacon already cooked.
If she got mad because you put the bacon you were cooking back in the fridge, then I don’t know why she would be upset. Unless, you did it in a huffy puffy way like it irritated you that she expected you to eat left over bacon.
Either way, just give her a hug and tell her you’re sorry for the misunderstanding.
You will miss her when she is no longer here to make a big deal about bacon.
Look don’t let the woman be controlling and make you feel bad.
She sounds like a very critical person, not you.
She is an emotional manipulator.
Why are you letting your mother tell you whether you can or cant cook bacon anyway, your an adult not a child. If my mother had a go at me about that, I would just laugh it off.
Honestly if she wants to make a thing out of it, then its just over stepping the mark and very controlling!!!!!!
Well this is tough. I am a food handler, but at home I cook bacon in the microwave, it is crisper. I am assuming if you were to cook the bacon, you would have already preheated the frying pan, so putting the raw bacon back would have been a food hazard. I would have cooked the fresh bacon for myself, and crumbled her bacon into an omelet for her to eat. I have never seen any one save left over bacon, so I guess you could have made a blt for lunch or something to keep peace with her. Chances are she will forget this by tomorrow. Wait, tomorrow is lent, you can’t eat the bacon tomorrow. I wonder if there are support groups your church or area has for you and for her.