We put a new fridge / freezer unit on the same outlet with a washing machine and a fluorescent light. The fluorescent light (a conventional bulb, low end fixure that is not hard wired - just to add more light in our basement) started flickering. I wasn’t present, but I am told the washing machine was actually unplugged at the time.
Would the fridge & freezer motor(s) not work and play well with a fluorescent bulb (actually a pair of such bulbs in a light fixture)? AC current just blows my mind, plus all that lag-lead junk. I know motors are a different animal (but to the layman, a plug is a plug!) 
I had a horrible teacher who couldn’t explain a thing*. Perhaps an electrician can help me understand what’s happening? Please put it in simple terms. And, bottom line, should this light not be plugged in with a motor?
*It was.a required circuits course for Sophomore mechanical engineers taught as “just accept this, don’t try to understand”. It turns out, the principles were all from Ordinary Differential Equations - a math course we would not have until next year. :smh: