#1 Roommate Tossed Out My Childhood Stuffed Animal
The dude is a friend of a friend who desperately needed a place to stay and I offered it. It has been the worst month of my life. Glad I’m done with him.
Last year, the National Student Accommodation Survey asked over 1,000 students in the United Kingdom about the most common annoying housemate habits, and the results might give us a better understanding of the broader picture. The list was:
- Leaving dirty dishes out (65%);
- Not helping with cleaning (55%);
- Leaving lights/appliances on (44%);
- Being too loud (44%);
- Leaving food to rot (41%);
- Not removing hair from plug holes (31%);
- Stealing food (26%);
- Not changing the toilet roll (26%);
- Leaving windows open (23%);
- Leaving the toilet seat up (23%);
- Taking long showers (22%);
- Moving a partner in (15%).
As we can see, the pictures reflect this pretty well.
#3 Family Member Has Cancer And No Immune System, And Is Largely Bed-Ridden. We Sanitized Her Whole House A Few Days Ago. Came To Pick Her Up And Found This. Told Her Roommate To Move Out Immediately
#4 I Have Asked Her Politely To Stop Several Times Now And My Patience Has Expired
#5 Kicked Out My Roommate. This Was His Room, So You Can Imagine How He Treated The Rest Of The House. Really Gross, And Just Really Sad
However, building and maintaining a good relationship with your roommate isn't so straightforward. "Spending lots of time with another person makes it easy to settle into casual irritability," said Diana Partington, a licensed professional counselor in private practice and author of 'DBT for Life: Skills to transform the way you live.'
"We become reactive to any sign of selfishness or callousness, making it hard to live together ... Your behavior changes my behavior, and then my behavior changes your behavior. Going back and forth like this can escalate quickly."
#6 Roommate Crashed My Car While Borrowing It To Go To Work Then Refuses To Pay Anything Unless I Let Her Continue To Drive It In The Future
#7 Left My Apartment For About A Month Because Of Covid. Came Back To Find This, The AC Set To 40 F, The Sink Running, The Back Door Wide Open And The Roommate Moved Out
But we have to stand up for ourselves — if our roommate repeatedly behaves in a way that negatively impacts our life, we must bring it up.
The secret to talking through conflict with a bad roommate, according to Kat Cohen, CEO and Founder of college guidance company IvyWise, is calling them in, rather than calling them out.
This means inviting our roommate into a conversation about how we can get along better rather than making one-sided accusations.
#10 Flatmate Had A Couple Friends Over, Fine, But He Destroyed My Isolation Made Cheese! These Have Already Been Aging For 2.5 Moths And Were Almost Ready
#11 The Least Hygenic Person I've Ever Met Just Moved Out And Left This. It Is Exactly What You'd Hope It's Not
#12 I Made Dinner For Us And Then Saw This Note When I Went For A Midnight Snack ?
#13 Roommate Let His Friend Use My Cast Iron Pan, She Ran It Through The Dishwasher, And Then He Left It In There For Days
"Frame this as a discussion of living policies and how to be a better roommate, and avoid criticizing your roommate's current behaviors," Cohen explained.
“Ask him or her if there is anything he or she would like to change about your living arrangement in order to make the conversation feel more like a discussion, as opposed to a personal attack or complaint."
#14 I'm Tired Of "Communicating"
I’m sick of “communicating” with her and nothing happening. She’s also done other stuff like leaving hair in the shower, almost never cleaning the apartment and having her audio at max volume all night.
#15 3 Weeks Ago I Replaced The Vinyl Countertop Covering Because My Roommate Ruined It By Cutting Things Directly On The Counter. I Asked Them To Please Not Do That Anymore. This Is Today
#16 I Gave My Roommate Money To Get A Very Specific Brand Of Toilet Paper When He Went To The Store. He Brought Back This. When I Asked Him About It He Said That They Had The Type I Asked For In Stock, But He Got This One Because It’s Cheaper. He Kept The Change
By calling our roommates in rather than calling them out, Cohen believes we can make sure they feel respected and invested in making the arrangement the best it can be. By using an approachable and non-threatening tone, we can have a conversation that makes both parties feel good.
#20 Roommate Uses An Air Purifier 24/7 Instead Of Cleaning Her Cat’s Litter Robot. Whole House Smells Like Cat Poop
