Roommate Arguments
Roommate Arguments
(That they may or may not know we are having)
Living
with new people is never something that you get used to easily. Especially
those of us who went random freshman year and spent the first few weeks in
awkward silence not knowing if you’ll actually get along and not wanting to
upset them. After that you should be picking your roommates but it never gets
easier. I say my junior year roommate was my favorite (I lived alone that
year). As a senior I have the most roommates I’ve ever had, a bigger living arrangement
and seemingly the same problems. Yes, there is the normal who takes out the
trash, does the dishes, cleans up the living room, cooks dinner, does the
dishes, buys food. Oh, did I mention does the dishes? If you could not tell by
my passive aggressive sass doing the dishes in my house tends to be the
problem. The can go a whole week without being done and then it takes whoever
caves first over an hour to clean them.
However,
those fights seem to be old news. They happen every few weeks and usually it
gets brushed under the rug and we all forget. There are those fights that your
roommates don’t realize they are having that seem to go on. I share my bathroom
with one other person and me and her lived together sophomore year so we
figured we’d be okay doing it again. Apparently during that year I lived by myself
I forgot how much her taking over the bathroom bothered me. Its honestly a
small thing. I was raised to get dressed in the bathroom after a shower. She
was not. So, I like a place to keep my clothes clean and dry while I shower and
she walks out in a towel. Except every time I move her things like a hairdryer
to place my clothes it always seems to get moved back. I know I could explain
it to her but it seems too small of an issue to bring up.
Another
argument my roommates don’t know about is how to clothes a chip bag (or loaf of
bread). I always use a clip to close things off. It keeps it fresh and keeps it
from bugs or other critters getting to it. Open food is how you get ants and I
dealt with ants enough junior year to never want to again. (They ruined an
entire jar of peanut butter! Don’t touch my peanut butter!) I cannot trust my
roommates to close their things after they open it. I have no idea how they eat
it too. It’s probably gone bad, but, its not my food and I’m not eating it.
It
all comes back to how we were raised. Nobody would get along perfectly. If
anything it is preparing us even more for the real world than school is. Getting
along with the people you live with is much harder than passing a test because it
seems you don’t “pass it” until graduation. I’m sure there are many other
arguments that we have that they don’t know about and I’m sure they have their
issues with me. (I even get sick of living with myself). There is only 111 days
until graduation and I am moving out the next day so not much more time to
enjoy college roommates before I’m rooming with my parents again. At least I don’t
have to worry about my roommates waiting up for me to get home at 1 from work. I still love my roommates. If I didn't I wouldn't be living with them. The humor and fun we have with each other outweighs the negative feelings.
Tell
me what you think. Are we petty with each other? Do you have the same struggles
or ones that I never thought of?
Oh one more thing about those dishes. This pile took over an hour.
I 100% agree that this ultimately comes down to how we were raised. However, knowing you personally I feel that we are very different. I would try to address the issue and see if my roommate and I could come to an understanding. It is much harder to start knew habits but it could save a lot of time and money down the road. Keeping a clean bathroom and sink/kitchen is something that they will need to learn now before they are out in the real world and have to throw away all their dishes because they failed to clean them or soak them or do anything with them after using them. Maybe their parents did it all for them and that is why they feel they dont need too? We may never know the reason but sometimes I think being a good friend is helping them come to the realization that people need to change and take accountability for their actions. For example if i cook dinner, then i need to wash my dishes.... Not make my roommates do it.
ReplyDeleteIf you have tried having a discussion I would then text reminders at night to your roommates just in case they enjoy using the excuse "it slipped my mind" or "I forgot". Bad habits are hard to break so you must be understanding of that... but they also must be understanding and respectful to those they are living with - THIS IS A LIFE RULE.
I am have been lucky enough to never have to share a room, bathroom or ever have a roommate. With that being said. I am the type of person, every little thing gets under my skin and I let nothing go. I will hold grudges until I die. Therefore, I can only imagine what you have to put up with. I guess my best advice (for the dishes anyway) it always worked in my house, you use it you wash it. My mom couldn't stand having a sink full of dirty dishes so she started us early when you were done with a cup, bowl, silverware, or plate you wash, dry and put it away right then. This left no room for an argument over dirty dishes.
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