The Middle Shelf

I keep my IPA in the middle of the fridge. Not the door. Middle shelf, eye level if you bend down. The door is where the beer is, and the door is for everybody, and I am not everybody.

A guest came last month and reached for the door like a person who drinks beer. And I didn't say a word. I just... watched. I didn't say, "That's not where it lives." I just watched him put it back.

Then I said, "The good ones are in the middle." And he said, "The door's easier." And I said, "That's not the point." And I wasn't lying.

Here's the thing, and I've thought about this. The door gets opened all day. By kids. By me, getting ice. By my wife, grabbing a beer that is not my beer. The middle shelf is for the beer that's not in a hurry.

So I've been training people. It's worked. The guest brought a six-pack last week, and I led him to the middle shelf, and I put my finger on the top row, and I said, "Those are for after." And he nodded.

He got it. I think. He might have just been tired. But the door is for people, and I am not a door.