#78 Finding the right lid in the Tupperware cupboard immediately

Neil Pasricha

Have you ever seen a plastic factory explosion?

Well let me tell you something, homegirl: It’s not a pretty sight. Toxic burnt-rubber fumes fill the air, black billowing clouds mushroom overhead, and factory guys in singed overalls run screaming in all directions. And scattered across the muddy grass and concrete are bits of plastic everywhere. Rogue yogurt containers, melted casserole lids, and stained floral-pattern butter dishes from the fifties all form big messy piles of assorted plastic scraps littered across the parking lot.

Now if you’re anything like The Rest Of Us then I’m guessing your Tupperware cupboard looks just like that, too. Whether you’ve got greasily stained plastic awkwardly stashed in a big drawer beside the fridge, waterfalling out of a cupboard, or hanging in a bag in the pantry, it doesn’t matter. It’s just a plastic factory explosion that’s never organized.

Oh sure, you might have good days. Perhaps like me you organize your entire Tupperware cupboard in a fit of rage one afternoon — sorting lids into piles, sticking containers together, maybe even throwing a few in the garbage. But slowly the mess creeps back in, inch by inch, day by day, until you’re met once again with black billowing clouds and singed overalls.

Somehow the fact that each Tupperware has two pieces causes the problems to start. Some lids fit on two containers, others look like they do, and nothing seems to add up. You’d think there would be more lids than containers in the cupboard, too — since solo containers are more likely to disappear holding grapes on a car ride or popcorn for a basement movie. But you’d be wrong! Lids disappear into the abyss more often and you’re left standing in the kitchen in high heels at 7am — lidless and late for work, awkwardly switching dishes till you find something, eventually taking your single bran muffin in a giant cake container.

That’s what makes it so great when you find the right lid in the Tupperware cupboard immediately. You breathe a big sigh of relief realizing you just saved a frantic five minutes on your hands and knees digging through explosion scrap heaps in the parking lot, looking for survivors, desperate to find a pulse.

Taking leftover pizza to work in peace?

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here

39 thoughts to “#78 Finding the right lid in the Tupperware cupboard immediately”

  1. Thank goodness I wear boots to work.
    Thank heavens, (however erratic), I still have a pulse.
    Thank YOU, for finding my grand-baby! He does love that tupperware cupboard, alright:)

  2. Yeah! This is especially true when you have up to 6 different people’s tupperware collections combined into one… Yeah… my roommates and I have quite the mish-mash of tupperware (and all sorts of other things, but there’s only one part to a bowl, plate, cup, or silverware)!

  4. I now have all the lids on tupperwares when i put them away so i make sure they have lids!
    more storage space but less hassle!
    noch

  5. i only save 2 sizes of tupperwre and they all use the same lid. minimalism also awesome.

  7. I’ve given up on the lid hunt. I simply put the box into a small plastic bag and seal it.

  8. Those lids. Those crazy stupid lids. We generally have our lids pretty neat and stacked up in our cupboard, but they still make me angry. Mostly because I can’t reach that cupboard without using a chair.

  9. The thought of taking a bran muffin to work in a cake container cracks me up! When I got married 10 years ago we got a food storage set from my grandma. It has numbers on the bottom of each lid and storage container. It certainly has spoiled me. I don’t let anyone in the house mess with them. Especially my kids – they are in a child-locked cabinet (the containers, not my kids).

  10. I hate those decoy lids with a passion. You look like you fit, lid … why don’t you fit?!

  11. I call the “waterfall” a Tupperlanche.

    I also can’t stand to throw plastic containers away… what if I need 26 plastic storage devices all at the same time one day?!

    2. On holidays I really do NEED 26 containers! My refrigerator is still packed full of leftovers in Tupperware. We’re not obsessive, AnneMarie, we’re collectors!

  13. Oh my gosh, yes this is definitely an awesome thing!

    I can only wish my fits of rage resulted in the organizing of a cupboard. More like trying to hammer a lid onto a container, and smashing both to smithereens. Don’t even ask what happened to the container’s contents. Just don’t.

  17. I pride myself on knowing at a quick glance which lid fits which container, even though I have several different sets of plastic containers (Hint: age/use discoloration is a good indicator of match; that discolored, mishapen small round lid probably matches the older burnt orange canister, not the more modern and much less discolored red container). My collection is also packed with saved plastic food containers because, as AnneMarie maintains, I’m certain I’ll need 26 containers on the same day. For me, a bigger issue than finding a lid which fits is the loss of and melting/ruining of lids. After a few too many dishwasher cycles, those cheap plastic whipped topping lids are rendered useless. And then there are always those lids which came too close to hot burners or were left in the microwave too long…yikes! So, I’m always short some lids for containers.
    Also, while we’re on the topic, are all men confused by and have an innate fear of Tupperware? Every man I’ve ever known seems to have no comprehension of the need for a vast collection of plastic containers of all shapes and sizes (YES, I DO need 3 containers the size of thimbles!), how to match up lids & containers (Honey, does that lid really look like it’s gonna fit on that container?!), and how to match foods/amounts to specific containers (Now why would you put one hard-boiled egg in the 1 quart container?! That’s just gonna waste ‘frig space!). It’s just not that hard, guys! C’mon now!

  18. I’m certain people eat them at my house! And I’m not talking about the tops so much as the bottoms! Finding the perfect match is like an eharmony.
    Side note: (seems to be the latest thing)- here today the sky was exactly like the one featured in the new banner. Spectacular!

  19. The tupperware cupboard in my house is actually quite organized, but we make up for that by the fact that it’s right above the refridgerator where it’s impossible to get to! So many times I’ll have one piece but, no matter how much I stretch and contort my arm, won’t be able to get my hands on the other one.

  20. Mine are somewhat organized but I still spent minutessss one day trying to fit a lid on the wrong container because I completely forgot I had that other bow…which the lid actually belonged to haha.

  22. I AM the woman in heels trying to leave for work digging around in the tupperware cupboard. Thanks for this Neil! I laughed so hard that tears came to my eyes.

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  26. Pingback: Jaydon cleans out the kitchen cabinet, Tupperware everywhere « The Adventures of Jaydon and Daddy

  27. It is good to have a proper organizer storage area for your plastic containers. This way, you avoid having to look for the right lid. My wife would religiously set aside these storage containers properly so that we could locate these when we need to.

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