#1
At the end of the school year he broke the news to me, his cancer was terminal and he didn't have much time left. We said goodbye as we left for the summer, me thinking it was the last time I'd probably ever see him.
The next year he was around campus again. Turns out he made it all up. Never had cancer.
To learn more about terrible roommates, we reached out to Reddit user One_n_0nly_throwaway, who started this thread and was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda.
"The reason why I started the conversation in the first place was because I was hoping that I could get some hype being one of those popular Reddit posts," the author shared. "I've always seen people get their question popularized on different platforms and what not and was hoping that I could join in on that craze. And so I had chosen a topic that might be relatable to people."
#2
Thankfully, the OP says they've never had a terrible roommate of their own. "However, I've had friends who have had their own nightmare roommate from hell. I've had friends who've had either racist or homophobic roommates that they had to leave or force the campus to get their roommate to be somewhere else," they revealed.
"Others were pretty much people who thought they were the best of friends, but once living together, they realized that they didn't have the chemistry that they thought they had. And so one of them had to move to a different dorm. And even some of them have felt that they were better off just having a dorm to themselves rather than living with someone," One_n_0nly_throwaway continued.
#3
The author believes it's not necessarily hard to find a good roommate, but isn't exactly easy either. "It's more so that people go into dorms not knowing what to expect, especially when it is with someone who they may have not met before," they explained.
"And other times, it could be friends who have never lived together and are not aware of some of their other friend's habits, because they may have only seen them at school and never had a sleepover or something," One_n_0nly_throwaway continued. "Thus, they are oblivious to how their friend is behind closed doors. On top of that, many of them, regardless if they are friends or not, are living in a space that is not their home anymore. So it's a new playing field for how they are going to take care of themselves without having their parents' help."
#4
Over winter break (so, while my husband was gone) the guy kidnapped his girlfriend and locked her in their closet for several days.
#5
He would wake up my friend at 3am with a knife and say s**t like "you know I could've [ended] you right now?"
That guy ended up getting help and has been a total saint since.
As far as the replies to their post, the OP shared that some of the comments were funny, while others were relatable. "And it's also interesting reading people's stories about how weird their roommates were," they added. "Like there is this one comment where apparently this girl had a roommate that liked to [touch herself] under the blankets, and apparently the girl had walked in one time on that. And from then on, the roommate would face her side of the room when she did it."
"And then there's others where you hear about people living with others that have never been taught human decency. Like changing or cleaning their clothes, having food on the floor," the author continued, noting that they have an ex friend who did something similar. "It was so gross."
#6
"Sounds like I'm the proof that everyone has their own stories, whether it's from a friend or their own roommate," the author added. "Not everyone is meant to dorm together, and not everyone is meant to have a roommate. Sometimes it's better for people to be on their own, and other times, you just have to find that right person who you click with and don't mind living with."
#7
Our unit developed a mouse problem, and my roommates noticed a bunch of their dishes went missing. Turns out my roommate had a hoarding problem and was the source of our mouse infestation. When summer came and we had to move out, we saw inside his room for the first time - piles up to the ceiling of trash, garbage, used mouse traps, and dirty dishes.
#8
She ate our food.
She lied about the most random and stupid things.
Was literally caught in the act of eating one of our snacks and said "I'm just eating an apple." It was a pretzel.
Oh, and she lied about having ovarian cancer for years And took people's donations for treatment.
#9
To learn more about the struggles that come along with living with roommates, we reached out to Kylie McConville, Editor-in-Chief of Apartment Therapy, which launched Dorm Therapy last year.
"Finding a college roommate is hard and overwhelming, especially when you're entering your first semester and trying to make new friends and get familiar in a completely new place. But we know the best way to get to know the person you're living with is to make a dedicated effort to spend time together and ask questions that'll help you get to know them (and vice versa)," Kylie shared.
#10
#11
Welp...turned out she was the resident closet junkie and would go to everyone's room being really friendly, to steal all their s**t. Watches, jewelry, wallets, laptop....anything worth money. Everyone found out after a mid-term party when she was out in the parking completely blasted on whatever she was taking. She got arrested and expelled and when it came time to clear out her room, that's when everyone's stolen s**t starting popping up.
#12
anyways I had enough so I told her fiancee. he gave me two months rent, and paid for breaking lease. pretty good profit.
We also asked Kylie what the most important things to discuss with a potential roommate are.
"When you're agreeing to live with someone, be honest with them and with yourself on your living habits and most importantly, your deal breakers. Are you someone who values cleanliness and organization? If so, you should share that with your roommate and find ways to compromise on what will make you both comfortable and happy," she told Bored Panda. "Open communication and respecting each other's boundaries will prevent anyone from feeling like their needs aren't being met.
#13
Brought up a fact from the news about Oprah being influential and wealthy. My roommate refused to believe me then genuinely said, “black people don’t have a place in our society.”
I immediately walked out the door, to the students affairs office, and requested a change. Moved out two days later.
#14
He was out of his mind most of the time. He’d be up at 3am pressing buttons on the microwave for minutes on end. Opening and closing cabinet doors loudly. He passed out in the bathtub with the water running and flooded the on campus dorm TWICE.
I walked in on him passed out fully nude on the toilet. I closed the door, knocked and he jumped up and hit his face on the door and bonked his head on the tub and bled across the bathroom.
He left a pizza on the common room table for a week. It started to smell so I covered it with an entire container of Morton’s salt. Like a pound of salt. Not long after he got drunk and ate it. ALL of it. His face was so swollen and red that night from all the salt.
Eventually by the second time him passing out in the tub I told the RD that he was going to [end] himself. I meant by accident. I think they took it as he was suicidal because half a dozen cops came to our room the next day.
He then started threatening them and demanding their names and badge numbers. “My dad is a lawyer you can’t make me go to the hospital!”
“Get out of my way I have to go to class!”
“What time is your class?”
“It’s at 9:30!”
“Well, it’s 3 pm so you don’t need to worry about it.”
Once they told him he was going to be arrested he turned very nice and apologetic.
They took him on a voluntary hold eventually. The next day his mom saw me randomly on campus and recognized me. She hugged me and told me I saved his life because he was mixing alcohol and opiates. His liver was failing.
He moved out the next week.
That’s just a fraction of the s**t he did. HE WAS THE WORST!
#15
David.
David was such an insane, insane freak of nature while being so horrific and annoying but doubly adorable and kinda of laughable. Like, he was so naive and stupid that he reminded me of a puppy.
I need to go to sleep so I’ll tell 3 things
A.) David was a drummer. Not a rock drummer, or folk drummer. A marching line drummer. David practiced “free styling” the drums, outside, facing the central acoustic space of our entire apartment complex while playing EDM remixes to Justin Bieber songs.
B.) A lot of college dorms are in lower income areas because Slumlords know they can prey on financially illiterate college kids. One morning, I (on the second floor balcony) was smoking a blunt when I noticed a homeless [addict] rummaging through the bushes downstairs. He looked up and saw me and kept trying to talk to me / convince me to let him upstairs to smoke with me. Instead, I tied a second blunt to a lighter and dropped it to him saying I had to leave soon. Weeks later David texts me and says he wants me to meet someone. I walk into our living room and see him with the homeless dude and 8+ of his friends. They were going to “throw a party” in our apartment.
3.) David was getting kicked out? Or not paying rent? I imagine kicked out for not paying rent. All I know is other people were coming by to look at the apartment / his room and he didn’t want to leave. I only discovered this information when I caught him taking stuff out of our trashcan and COVERING THE LIVING ROOM IN IT to “make us look like slobs”. David then tried convincing me to “play music really loudly” and “smoke weed inside” so nobody would move in.
I did none of those things.
The guy who came to see the apartment was Chris. Ended up moving in. He was super sweet and I adored him. I hope he is okay, and I wish I never lost contact.
F**k you David.
And if you're having a difficult time with your current roommate, Kylie says it's important to know that you're not alone. "You can absolutely try to find common ground with your roommates with your shared interests. Do you both love crafting? Watching movies? Doing an activity together — like taking on a fun dorm room makeover (we have tons of dorm room layout tips on Dorm Therapy!) — is a great way to build connection and have fun together! It's an easy way to spend the afternoon together and create a beautiful shared space!"
#16
One of them had a seriously powerful Yamaha amplifier mated to a pair of 350W tallboy active cabinet speakers. Pricy setup.
Queue the obnoxiously over-loud music blasting through the house most nights of the week, while they would get crazy high and essentially rave out with s****y trance music all night.
One day when I had the morning off uni, she went out and had left her door open.
I seized the chance - went in, took the metal case off her amp, and removed the glass fuse. Reassembled, put everything back as it was, and left.
Peace and quiet for the rest of the term. She couldn't figure out what had happened to it, but I played dumb and said she must've blown the amp. Unsurprisingly, both her and the idiot room mate she came with both failed the first term and left.
#17
#18
We were also lucky enough to get in touch with Mary Dell Harrington for this piece. Mary Dell is co-founder of Grown and Flown, the largest site and community for parents of high school and college students, so we were interested in hearing her thoughts on why it's so difficult to find a great roommate in college.
"It’s surprising if roommates don’t have conflicts," she told Bored Panda. "We hear from parents in our community quite often who say their first-year college students are having trouble with their roommates, especially early in the fall semester."
"If students attend a college where roommates can choose each other, they might have prioritized an 'Instagram view' of their future roommate or common interests or majors. What’s more important for compatibility are lifestyle habits (sleep needs, importance of keeping the space organized and clean, noise or quiet while studying, having friends or romantic partners in the room)," the expert noted.
#19
#20
