2008 Woodie Awards
Evil roommates from hell
What you can do about it, just remember no one is perfect
Jennifer Duenk
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Opinions
Everyone knows living with a room mate can be a double-edged sword; sometimes you mesh and sometimes you clash. The majority of people on campus have at least one roommate gripe.
There are stories about roommates who have sex while you're in the room, the roommate who borrows your stuff and never gives it back, or when they do give it back it's mysteriously destroyed in some way or other. There are the roommates who sleep all day and study until the early hours of the morning with the lights on; and the roommates who are drunk or high all the time. Overall, there are a whole bunch of annoying problems that you have to deal with when having a living partner.
You're not always going to get along with your roommate but what happens when you never get along? What can you do when you have the roommate from hell?
I know of one young man (we'll call him Bob) that had to deal with a constant mess. Not only was Bob's roommate's side of the room, dirty but the filth spread all over the room. One day Bob snapped and told his roommate to clean up. Unfortunately for Bob, his roommate retaliated by throwing out Bob's homework.
There is a book that Harlen Cohen wrote titled The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues you Might Run Into in College. Cohen offers some advice that might help you out. He says that you should respect each others differences and set down rules that are fair for everyone. If there is a problem, say something immediately. Don't be afraid to speak up. Do not live with your best friend. Wait till the roommate is sober to deal with the problem.
I can hear it already: "But Jen those won't work." or "I've tried those and my roommate still won't change." Well reader, here are my main rules:
Do not retaliate. Think about it, Bob could have retaliated by throwing away some of his roommates things. Eye for an eye. But then what? Retaliation brings on war. The person that you live with has access to everything you own, your toothbrush, your pillow, etc. Low blows are not the way to go. No one wants to go through the year being paranoid that every time they're not in the room their stuff could get messed with.
There are stories about roommates who have sex while you're in the room, the roommate who borrows your stuff and never gives it back, or when they do give it back it's mysteriously destroyed in some way or other. There are the roommates who sleep all day and study until the early hours of the morning with the lights on; and the roommates who are drunk or high all the time. Overall, there are a whole bunch of annoying problems that you have to deal with when having a living partner.
You're not always going to get along with your roommate but what happens when you never get along? What can you do when you have the roommate from hell?
I know of one young man (we'll call him Bob) that had to deal with a constant mess. Not only was Bob's roommate's side of the room, dirty but the filth spread all over the room. One day Bob snapped and told his roommate to clean up. Unfortunately for Bob, his roommate retaliated by throwing out Bob's homework.
There is a book that Harlen Cohen wrote titled The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues you Might Run Into in College. Cohen offers some advice that might help you out. He says that you should respect each others differences and set down rules that are fair for everyone. If there is a problem, say something immediately. Don't be afraid to speak up. Do not live with your best friend. Wait till the roommate is sober to deal with the problem.
I can hear it already: "But Jen those won't work." or "I've tried those and my roommate still won't change." Well reader, here are my main rules:
Do not retaliate. Think about it, Bob could have retaliated by throwing away some of his roommates things. Eye for an eye. But then what? Retaliation brings on war. The person that you live with has access to everything you own, your toothbrush, your pillow, etc. Low blows are not the way to go. No one wants to go through the year being paranoid that every time they're not in the room their stuff could get messed with.
Be the first to comment on this story