Off Topic: The Refrigerator Door

On the right is a (partial) picture of my very cluttered and busy refrigerator door.

Maybe yours looks a little something like that too - unless you have one of those shiny stainless steel refrigerators that don't like to cooperate with 'fridge magnets, then chances are there are at least a few things pinned up on the door. click for ginormous view

According to researcher and co-author of Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century Anthony Graesch, families with small children at home have on average about 50 magnets and items tacked up on the refrigerator, (you can see more from Prof. Graesch in a recent interview that aired on CBS Sunday Morning, hat tip to Trish for sending me the link to the video).

That number of 50 seemed pretty high to me, until I began counting up all the stuff I have up on my 'fridge door, mostly mementos from trips or events or airports I have passed through in the last few years.

One funny side note about my door, when I mentioned to my 13 year old that I was going to post something on the blog about refrigerator doors and magnets, he took a closer look at the door and asked, "Why do you still have a picture of you and that MetLife dog up there?"

I replied, "Do you mean Snoopy? That is the dog's name, he isn't 'The MetLife Dog'. He was in Peanuts for about 50 years. You know Snoopy, right?"

"Whatever, Dad. I know him as the MetLife dog."

Welcome to 2014, when stainless steel refrigerators, smartphones, and social networks are eroding the power and majesty of the well-decorated refrigerator door.

And where a generation of kids only knows Snoopy as "The MetLife dog."

Note: I am heading to Vegas for the next four days with most of The 8 Man Rotation crew to soak up a little NBA Summer League action, so the blog will probably be dark until next week.