Is Two Enough to Make It a Custom?

Back in October, I got a new fridge and freezer installed. Both have been purring along contendedly enough – if there’s been any roaring, that has been coming from me, still having to do with the doors: The freezer still lacking a handle; and the fridge being hard to open (in spite of what might be assumed to be the largest handle in the fridge world).

As for the fridge, I soon came to the conclusion that I had to use some sort of tool to relieve the pressure first, every time before opening the door, and the best tool for the purpose that I could find in my drawers was a wooden butter knife. By now I’ve got used to that and find it the most natural thing in the world. Doesn’t everyone have a butterknife hanging on the fridge?!

Today, at long last, a couple of guys came along to put a wooden “front” on the freezer door. This makes the freezer look bigger on the outside than on the inside (it is in fact smaller than the previous one) – and serves as protection from dust etc.

My only objection when the guys declared the job “done” was the the same as last time:

Me: – Er … But there’s no handle??
Guy: – No, they haven’t arrived yet, and we don’t know when that will be. You’ll get it later...
Me: – And what am I supposed to do in the meantime?
(The new door fitting so tight now that there’s really not much room to grip around the edge.)
Strong Guy (showing me he can do it): – Or you could just use a dough scraper or something…
Me (calm and together, as if this was a perfectly normal conversation): – Okay. I’m already using a butter knife with the fridge…
Strong Guy: Oh? (testing the fridge door, and of course it opens ever so smoothly for Him…)

Then he starts searching his pockets, muttering “Didn’t I have a….” - the name of which I can’t remember even in Swedish, but I understood it to be some small item of plastic that could smoothly be added to the fridge to serve just about the same pressure-relieving purpose as my butter knife. But in spite of turning his pockets inside-out, he didn’t find one. So he just shrugged his shoulders (with no promises to come back with one), and I was left to my own devices, once again…

Fortunately I’m not short of butter knives, so I found another nice handcarved one, and also a piece of decorative ribbon to hang it from...

I’m just telling you this, in case you should happen to come by for a surprise visit, or (perhaps more likely) these mysterious objects should happen to appear in the background of other photos on this blog. It is not an old Swedish custom (yet!) to have a butter knife hanging next to the fridge or freezer. If, however, the tradition should spread, in years to come… now you know where it all began, and why!

(PS. I’ll try to remember to ask for that Thingy for the fridge again when some time in the Future they come to attach a handle on the freezer…)