I’ve been living on my own since I was 19 years old. Almost 4 years, one apartment, one townhouse, and 5 roommates later you think I would be able to write some sort of idiot’s guide to living with roommates during your college years. Wrong.
I moved into my first apartment in 2012 with a girl I knew from high school, Rachel. Everything was awesome, minus paying for bills and having to scrub my own toilet (Ew). It was six months of essentially living with my best friends, since my roommate basically lived at her boyfriend’s house and my friends lived on my couch. Rachel then gave me about 3 weeks’ notice that she would be moving in with her boyfriend. Surprise, surprise.
So in between double shifting at work and studying for finals I was on the lookout for a new roommate. I begged all of my best friends to spread their wings and leave their parents’ comfortable, rent free homes with full refrigerators to come live with me. Where there would be bills, ramen noodles, and no furniture… But sleepovers every night (fun, right?!).
Fortunately, I ended up meeting a new friend earlier in 2012 who needed a place to go.
“Yay! I’m going to be living with someone who actually wants to hang out with me!”
Grecia ended up becoming one of my best friends but also one of my worst roommates. We would but heads about EVERYTHING. My favorite was when I threw away her taco from Jack in the Box that had been sitting out all day.
“Why did you just throw that away?” Grecia asked, appalled I would do such a thing.
“It’s been out all day, and we have people over. That’s gross.”
“I would have done that when I was ready to throw it away. Just leave my shit alone!” She yelled.
“It’s a fucking taco! I’m sorry I don’t want our place to look like a pig sty!”
And that was our life as roommates.
After Grecia, there was Kayla. Kayla and I have been best friends since 7th grade and actually had a fine roomie relationship. It was the boyfriend I couldn’t handle. He stayed the night every single night, watched Netflix all day on our couch (even when Kayla wasn’t home) and worst of all he would leave the soda bottle caps half way unscrewed and let all the carbonation leak out. I swear he did it on purpose.
After Kayla it was Nic. I was terrified to live with a boy but eventually found the positives in it.
I thought to myself, “No more catty and passive aggressive behavior in this household! I can just yell at Nic to pick up his dirty socks with no worries!”
That was mostly true. I soon realized that I had to deal with a lot more than dirty socks. Beard hair started to grow on the bathroom sink and when I asked Nic to kindly clean up his whiskery mess, it was just too much for one sponge to handle. Hair lingered in the corners of counter top and then clung to the faucet handles.
“There’s still your beard mess all over the sink, Nic.” I complained.
“How do you know that was me?” He countered.
“Um, I don’t really have to trim my beard in the bathroom…” I replied sarcastically.
“Those could be your eyelashes.” He snapped back in all seriousness.
“Cause I shed eyelashes?!”
Obviously I know that I’m not the perfect roommate either. After moving in with my boyfriend, Nick (No, not a typo. Just a coincidence), I soon realized what my major flaw was. I had lived with the stubborn, the clingy boyfriend, and the messy. So what was my boyfriend going to be?
After a week or two of living in peaceful harmony, there came a time where I needed a plate from the cupboard.
“Babe! Dishes in the dishwasher. Clean or dirty?” I called to Nick from the kitchen before even opening to check.
“It’s empty! I put the clean dishes away earlier.”
After living with my previous roommate, Nic, for over a year that was something I was not used to hearing. So joyfully I open the cupboard to grab a plate when I see a horrifying sight. My purple and yellow plate set were mixed in with the white plate set, bowls were placed on two different shelves, mugs paired with drinking glasses, and shot glasses were scattered everywhere.
“ALL BOYS ARE THE SAME. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?” Was only one of my immediate thoughts.
I quickly placed everything in its rightful place and grabbed the plate that I needed. I soon realized that my mini panic attack was probably not necessary.
“I just freaked out over how my boyfriend put the dishes away…” What is wrong with me?
My major flaw: Control freak. I threw Grecia’s taco away because it was grossing me out. I guess I could have let it go. I nagged at Nic to clean up his Rockstar cans, beard hair, and everything else so many times. I guess I could have tried a different approach. Kayla’s boyfriend… Nope, that was just plain annoying.
Living with roommates can be difficult. Everyone has something to offer that can make sharing living quarters a whole lot more pleasant. But everyone also has imperfections that can cause riffs in even the most perfect relationships or living situations. All you can do is do your part, stay calm, and keep in mind that no one is perfect.
Jackie Joiner's Journalism Jackpot 