My roommate made this for me for lunch. I don’t know what it is.

I see that now you’re the one getting upset. Please reread my comment before attempting to make this personal. I can’t believe I actually need to explain this to someone who seems to clearly communicate in English, but this seems to be the state of the education system. My “equating” was a hyperbole meant as a jab to your overreaction about putting away dishes. You seem to think putting away a pot is so hard of work, therefore I used that figure of speech.  As for the asking, I thought I addressed that already in my initial reply, but I admit I wasn’t clear. I personally don’t think it matters if the roommate asked or not; I think the intention of the act is what matters; and the reciprocation. The roommate leaving the pot out for OP was an act of kindness that OP admittedly didn’t ask for. Except, we are not talking about a huge moral issue here; we’re talking about a pot of soup that takes less than 1 minute to put away. In my opinion, if the roommate found out, they have the right to be upset, because they had pure intentions. They were not trying to make extra work for OP. Again, this might actually be a cultural difference- you just do things without a 1:1 return, but you expect that people won’t be throwing your gift away with no regard.  Since you wanted to bring up your ancestry in the other reply, I actually am quite surprised that a Native American of all peoples don’t understand this sense of community and communal living where actions are reciprocal. Other indigenous peoples I’ve met (of Canada, albeit) definitely don’t share your sentiment