Woman Called Out For Throwing Away Her Boyfriend’s ‘Potentially Illegal’ Yogurt Collection

Everybody has quirks.

And we all have collections of things we love or in tend to one day sell.

Collections can be fun and cute.

And they can be a fascinating glimpse into a person’s psyche.

Until their not.

Case in point…

Redditor duck_fairy wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.

She asked:

AITA for Throwing Away my Boyfriend’s Potentially Illegal Yogurt Collection?”

The Original Poster (OP) explained:

“I’m a 29 F[emale], my boyfriend is a 30 M[ale].”

“We’ve been living together for two years in a little studio in a very expensive, big US city.”

“My boyfriend grew up rurally, with lots of space, enough to collect all kinds of things.”

“He collected action figures and video games and all the normal kids’ stuff when he was young.”

“But as he grew older, he became interested in more unusual things.”

“As a teen, he had eight guinea pigs, of different types from different breeders.”

“Since Tide Pods were released seven years ago, he’s saved one of every kind of Tide Pod.”

“He’s got a big box of an international variety of electric insulators, those little ceramic hats that power lines wrap around on power poles.”

“He’s not a hoarder.”

“He’s usually neat, just used to having lots of space for his bizarro collections.”

“At his parent’s ranch, he has two big rooms full of containers of weird (and impressive!) things.”

“He recently became interested in Yogurt.”

“He’s always hated dairy products, until about a year ago.”

“He hasn’t just started drinking milk and sharing ice cream with me, but he’s found a love for yogurts.”

“So he now collects them, of course. The problem is that they’re perishable.”

“So, until earlier today, our little 550 sq foot studio contained about 2100 cups of yogurt.”

“It comes in tons of varieties.”

“Different types, flavors, textures, containers, made by different companies in different countries.”

“This is like crack to my boyfriend.”

“So he tried to pretty much save a sample of everything he could find.”

“He filled our fridge, bought a new fridge, and then another tiny bedside fridge.”

“He said he didn’t want to walk to the fridge at night, but it was obviously a ruse to get more yogurt space.”

“These fridges all filled up with his yogurts, and if you keep them for long, they smell bad.”

“Sometimes the packaging breaks.”

“So our apartment was smelling like rotten milk for the last two weeks — and my boyfriend’s attitude was ‘oh it’s fine’ and ‘just deal with it for a little longer’ until I pulled the plug and threw it all out this morning.”

“I was looking at my groceries, which I had to put beside the fridge because there was no space.”

“And everything smelled like death, and then I kinda snapped and threw it all away.”

“My boyfriend is understandably upset.”

“We’ve been arguing about whether I crossed a line by throwing away his stuff.”

“And he’s especially upset because he (of course) had rare yogurts that were hard to find.”

“In particular, he had some Cuban and Iranian yogurts that you can’t get in the US.”

“But I know that we have trade sanctions against Iran and Cuba, so I don’t know if it was even legal for him to have them?”

“I asked where he got his Iranian yogurt, but he kept insisting ‘the Iranian Yogurt is not the issue here.'”

“And that the real issue was me throwing out his precious yogurts without his permission.”

“Do I need r/legaladvice? Thanks in advance. I’m so exasperated.”

“Am I The A**hole Here?”

Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA?:

• NTA – Not The A**hole
• YTA – You’re The A**hole
• NAH – No A**holes Here
• ESH – Everyone Sucks Here

Many Redditors declared our OP was NOT the A**hole.

Let’s hear some thoughts…

“’The Iranian yogurt is not the issue here.’”

“I hope at some point in my life I find a way to seamlessly drop that into conversation.”  ~ petuniamcflowerpot

“Also…”

“‘He said he didn’t want to walk to the fridge at night, but it was obviously a ruse to get more yogurt space’.”

“OP, you’re definitely NTA here, but also, I hope the saga continues so we can have more of these amazing lines.”  ~ Maktube

“NTA. So… he can be a hoarder and still be neat… tolerating a house smelling of rotten milk is not normal behavior.”

“Perishable items are by their definition not collectables.”

“Either this is a troll our your boyfriend is a hoarder and has convinced you it’s not a problem.”  ~ Jajakomopowers

“Hoarders claim they are ‘collectors.'”

“Also, people who are real collectors generally collect things of value or that will appreciate over time.”

“It sounds like he needs some help.”

“Throwing out his yogurt will only make room for something else.”  ~ Stardust68

“What constitutes a hoard vs a collection is pretty ambiguous.”

“And sometimes one person could be a hoarder and another person a collector even with the exact same collection because part of hoarding is a negative impact and an unwillingness to get rid of items.”

“So someone living in a 4,000 square foot house could be a collector while someone living in a 400 square foot house might be a hoarder due to how it affects their lives.”

“That said, in this case, it’s causing difficulties with his significant other, taking over space needed for other things, unsanitary, and he finds getting rid of them emotionally difficult.”

“There are some major warning signs and he needs to talk to a professional.”  ~tsukinon

“NTA. This isn’t about yogurt at all, whether it came from Iran or the moon.”

“From what you describe your boyfriend does have hoarding tendencies.”

“Filling a tiny apartment with several thousand yogurts to the point that you have to buy extra refrigerators and can’t safely store your groceries is a big issue.”

“It deprives you of the opportunity to have a safe and sanitary living environment.”

“It’s a wonder you didn’t clean out the fridge for your food sooner! “

“Your boyfriend’s lack of insight to the unfair situation he is putting you in makes him an a**hole here.”

“Help him get the help he needs — mental health professionals can help address the hoarding tendencies and any additional underlying issues that may be at play.”

“Good luck to you both!”  ~ mikesbikeshop

“Agreed on the NTA.”

“Also, consider that this may have been noticeable from other apartments and could have put your living situation in jeopardy.”  ~ lavasca

“I wouldn’t worry about the legality of foreign yogurt so much as the fact that if your home smells like rotting food your neighbors can call the cops for it being unsanitary and you could get fines or be evicted.”

“A hoarder… hoards things.”

“Not every hoarder is a ‘flat cat’ type.”

“Just because it’s neat and organized or interesting to look at doesn’t mean it isn’t a problem.”

“It’s affecting their life or living environment or they have an unhealthy attachment/inability to throw things away they probably need some mental health help from a professional.” ~ mommy_sharkdoodoo

“NTA. So, troll potential aside, your boyfriend could definitely be a hoarder and still be neat.”

“In fact, considering that there’s considered some overlap (not much, admittedly, but still some) between Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and hoarding.”

“One could definitely argue that this is possible, especially with that little detail of him being able to fill up two allegedly large rooms in his parent’s home.”

“I couldn’t imagine all the potential issues with this particular fixation.”

“Just off the top of my head, I imagine this might attract unwanted attention if there were ever any apartment inspections.”

“Such smells could attract any number of rodents and insects or pests in general – which can be a nuisance to get rid of at the best of times and sometimes outright expensive and impossible at worst.”

“I doubt the electrical bill favored having not just one, but essentially two and a half fridges as well.”

“That’s not even addressing the issue of it likely being unsafe to keep expired, potentially exposed foods near other food that was fresh but could be compromised.”

“In many ways, your boyfriend not only exposed you to a number of potential cost issues, but also some serious health problems”

“Trade sanctions and whatever else aside (because honestly I don’t know much about how these things would affect having yogurt from Iran of all things), it sounds like your boyfriend needs some serious help.

“Whatever this is is not normal.”  ~ AnotherPanicDisorder