Apt-roommate Stories

[helles]

I get on great with my current flat-mate, its pretty amazing. I've had issues with previous flat-mates back at uni.

This one girl would go through a roll of toilet paper a day and it was infuriating cos she expected me to buy the TP equally when she was using 90% of it! I just couldnt get my head around how you could use so much paper. it almost ruined our friendship living together, but we get on great now.

This other guy had dreads and we already had bad drainage in the shower, but he still insisted on washing his dreads regularly, clogging up the shower even more and not cleaning it out. There was regular flooding in that bathroom. Plus he was a druggie and would have epileptic fits when high, so it was kinda weird combo and we'd have to watch out for him if he'd been on a bender..

[swinger]

I don't know if I can take a roommate at this point. Last one I remember was college. I had two in a 3 BR house. We started off doing communal food shopping and splitting the bill 3 ways. One guy (the skinniest!) was eating everything in sight. Pretty quickly we went to having our own shelves in the fridges and our own milk, etc. That seemed to solve things until I noticed my food getting depleted without me eating and drinking it! I checked with the other roommate and he reported the same phenomenon. We took some notes on quantities and levels and, sure enough, that cheap bastard was stealing our FOOD! And of course he was. He bought total low-cost crap and we got good food. We confronted him and just said, look, STOP STEALING OUR FOOD or else you get kicked out. That worked.

Well, except for one night. He invited some dude to camp out at the house for a couple of days on the couch. This dude stunk. He also didn't ask us if it was OK, which would have been nice. I was cooking a big spaghetti and meatballs dinner for my girl. They were peeking in saying things like "Oh, smells good!" I knew what they wanted. I said "Look, this is for me and my girl - sorry there isn't enough to share. What are YOU guys doing for dinner?" They said they would go get pizza or something. I just wanted to nip that in the bud. I had salad, spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread - the works! I took off driving to pick up my girl, got her, came back and...yeah, you guessed it. ALL the food was eaten, the dirty pots and pans were in the sink with dirty dishes, and the guys were nowhere to be seen.

Fair punishment was meted out.

Anyway, I don't think I could handle a roommate now.

[saeka]

^ wtf that is so awful!


FORTUNATELY I have no stories to share...

After reading horror stories like these, I dread flatting with anyone.

I'd rather live in a cardboard box by myself D:

[Subuatai]

It's better to rent out an apartment by yourself. $220 a week for a one room apartment (the building used to be a hotel so it was quite luxurious) was comfortable for me. Moving in with friends also threatens the relationship as there's not much space to give each other.

Though... I'll be moving in with my gf soon, and I kinda dread it.

[Subuatai]

Well... I don't really have a choice in that matter with my gf. But she was raised in a upper class and clean background so I'm not too worried. I stayed with her overnight quite a few times and she seems clean enough.

Yeah I had food rats as well as a someone who washed his butt in the shower stinking up the whole bathroom. I also remember one place I lived I stopped buying bottled milk because it disappears half the time. So did my steak! Red meat is expensive here in Australia, and that really annoyed me. In the end no one confesses some people will continue to deny facts until proof is provided.

So instead of spending money to install a kitchen camera I just moved on and lived on my own.

[Ganbare!]

Does it always have to be horror stories?

I was fortunate enough to move in with close friends so I knew if they would suit or not. All in all, I prefer being around people than living alone, it's more fun to improvise a party or a night out with them if I feel like it and since they are out of the house most of the time, it's pretty quiet. As I've been living far away from my family, being able to rely on people in case I needed it is important: hospitalization, moves etc.

[nealtse]

I moved into a flat with 2 other guys there that I didn't know prior. They fought all the time and one of them tried to manipulate me into helping him get the other guy kicked out. I realized the stuff he was saying wasn't true and I ignored him, he moved out fairly soon after that. Then that second roomate was forced to move out at the end of his lease because the landlady didn't like him (I never had much a problem with him). I got another guy in who kept to himself, his name was Rob. Eventually he lost his job and spent about 6 months holed up in his room playing world of warcraft and eating spaghetti with butter.

A third guy moved in, Will, and he said he didn't have a job but his parents were supporting him (I'll take that as a HUGE warning sign next time). I told him I liked to keep things clean and he asked me if I was like the maid or something...(another huge warning sign I somehow decided to ignore). He smoked in his room nonstop hanging around on philosophy forums, went to college for a month before dropping out and if I didn't know he was broke as s*** to buy weed, I'd say he was high all the time. The most I ever asked him to do was help clean the bathroom once every 2 weeks or so, which he proceeded to do with pure bleach.

Around Thanksgiving Will goes back home to his parents place. I don't see him for almost 3 weeks. I'm woken up Sunday morning to a bunch of clacking, clanging and grunting. Will's moving his s*** out. I ask him what the hell's going on, he says he's moving out, I tell him he owes me an explanation and his mother LEAPS in front of him and says "He can't handle talking to you right now." I don't scream and yell because he stilled owed me for bills which he paid eventually, but it was a stupid mess and I washed my hands of it. Later that afternoon I talk to my landlady and she says that they told her I already knew he was moving out. Bull f***ing s***, he told me about 30 minutes before telling the landlady. She knew I was a good tenant, so I sorted that out, but omg, what a tool.

A couple months later Rob stops paying his bills right in the middle of Chicago winter where heating costs can get to 300$USD a month. I'm the responsible one so of course everything's in my name and I'm stuck paying his share. 4 Months until the end of the lease I dont' see a cent out of him, and he keeps putting me off with vague promises to pay, saying he's waiting on money from his parents. I had to keep yelling at him to stop turning up the heat on my dime too. To this day he still owes me around 750$USD.

I got out of there asap, alone in 7 trips or so in my tiny honda civic. It sucked, and killed my body, but I was just happy to get out. Moved into a flat with all bills included, and a slough of awesome roomates. I've had seven roomates since living here and the worst of them was a guy I just never talked to but never had issues with.

[milkman's baby]

My first roommate freshman year was really ghetto and every time I walked in the room she'd scream out, "Who dat be?!" She would always talk on her phone REALLY loud while I was sleeping up until 3 in the morning to the most random people. We got in a huge argument and I moved out because I was scared of her. I mean, I grew up in St. Louis so I shouldn't have been but I think I just didn't wanna deal with all that pull your weave out and jump a hoe crap in college.

The next semester I transferred colleges and my new roommate was a snotty rich gal (who was majoring in Biology and flunked BIO101 - wants to be a surgeon, ha). She was just plain annoying. Always complaining about stupid crap. Anyway, we got into an argument over her watching Laguna Hills really loud while I'm sleeping except this time I was the ghetto one and she was scared to death of me. She didn't move out but she was definitely nice to me the rest of the semester.

After that, I had some pretty sucky roommates here and there but I learned to let things slide more. Right now, I am rooming with three dudes for the first time. Lots of females would think they'd be dirty and messy, but the truth is that I'm a bigger pig than all three of them.

[FedEx]

Got along great with most roommates. We implemented the rubberband rule; if he had a rubberband tied around the door knob it meant "I'm in here with a chick... don't knock, don't even breathe". On those nights I slept on the living room couch.

The one roommate who annoyed the crap out of me was this high strung guy from NY. Always pissy and laughing at his own homophobic jokes. I didn't "get it". The following year he frosted the tips of his hair white, came out to the world, and got a boyfriend. Then I "got it", but by that time I had moved out.

My last roommate pulled a knife on me. I no longer room with people.

[Ganbare!]

^ROFL, my last roommate invited his friends over almost everyday to play Street Fighter and all of them used the term 'gay' to qualify the bad stuff that would happen to them so often I started picking it up which sucks.. Now that I have returned to living with respectful schoolmates in my flat in Paris, my mind is finally free of constant unimaginative trash talking nonetheless compared to your bad experience it was really no big deal. Rooming with responsible friends is what I advise everyone to do if they have the occasion.

[buffyuna]

Sorry this is long but it just happened so i needed to rant.


I met my roommate like 4 weeks ago and I'm already making a trip to walmart tomorrow to buy a baseball bat...no joke. He started off really friendly and outgoing during the first week. Then one night I assumed he got really drunk cause he was acting all sorts of crazy (really paranoid, even gave me one of his knives cause he thought someone was breaking in ). The next day he was like a completely different person. He stayed in his room all day/night, and we both have summer classes that last about 4 weeks so missing a week of class is big. Also he wouldn't say anything when I passed him in the kitchen. I thought it was because he was embarrassed for acting crazy but nope, 3rd week and he's back to being super friendly.

So yesterday at like 3 am he starts talking to himself really loudly and smashing things in the kitchen. He kept shouting "Im gonna kill everyone in here that doesn't snort coke". So of course I'm wide awake now with my huge adjustable wrench in hand just waiting for his crazy ass to try something lol. Thankfully nothing happened and he passed out on the couch. So I come back from class and he acts like nothing happened. At this point I'm thinking he's got real psychological issues and that its not just alcohol cause even a drunk would try to explain themselves. Fast forward to an hour ago, he comes in my room and asks if I want pizza cause he's buying, I tell him no thanks but he keeps pressing it so I said sure. Well not even 30 minutes later he's having another weird fit where he's angrily talking to himself and grunting and doing that silent scream thing when your really pissed but you don't want to be loud. I'm thinking about just asking him "wtf is up", but then he starts saying "ni##er" and "stupid ni##er" over and over again . I grabbed the wrench again as you probably guessed lol. He stopped a little while ago, but I don't know if I should even confront him about his weirdness anymore because it's obvious he's been referring to me now that he's said the n word. And to be honest, he's a big dude in comparison to me and I'd rather play it safe than end up with one of his combat knives in my chest. I know I'm blocking my bedroom door with my dresser tonite tho.

[Ganbare!]

^If he behaves strangely for no reason (known family or sentimental issues), denies it and has weapons around you probably should move out at least temporarily or ask someone to mediate, nothing good can come of waiting any longer especially if there is a possible chance he goes on a rampage because of racism. A friend of mine had a suicidal roommate, there was nothing he could do but leave.

He could have smacked the f***face but it wouldn't have solved anything and since he didn't want to be suspected of anything in case he jumped, he left despite the hassle but better to be safe than sorry. I'm used to all sorts of violence yet life-threatening situations like the one you described should not be taken lightly. It's sad how neighboring Canada is globally very safe while psychos and street criminals are so ordinary in the US, your society is deliquescent..

[buffyuna]

Yeah its one thing if he were drunk, but he just came to my door with the pizza and he seemed normal and sober. That sucks about your friend. I thought he was maybe suicidal too since he stayed in his room all week. And I heard that Canada has less crime, I wonder why since you guys don't seem to have a hugely different culture.

[Ganbare!]

You're right about cultural similarity but in my opinion it is the least important factor here. To sum it up briefly Canada has less weapons, less income disparities, a more skilled immigration thus less likely to commit criminal offenses, less of a Far West/gangsta mentality, much more civic thus why Canadian society is significantly less violent. The fact our 5 biggest metropolises are safer than most cities of similar size in Britain suggests demographics are determining.

[monroe]

Moved into a new room this week. My old room was nice, new, but the location sucked. It was connected to a party pad with constant activity and blaring music.

First thing I noticed was that the fixtures were a bit worn, but nothing severe. The only real con about this room was sharing the bathroom, which I soon discovered.

It reeked of feces and every surface and crevice was crusted in s*** and piss, the floor was littered with old toilet paper, magazines and a used towel. I controlled my anger just enough to loudly knock my suite mate's door, but nobody was home. So, I psyched myself out, went and bought some rubber gloves and cleaning supplies and spent at least 8 hours cleaning.

The feces encrusting the toilet had become so hardened that even scraping them with a hard brush had little effect. It took several hours of chemical wash and about 30 minutes of scraping (in which some of the stuff got on my face) to finally get the residue off.

The bathtub was blackened with what I imagine was sediment from showers past and deposits from the water. This actually came off relatively easy with the application of Scrubbing Bubbles and use of a cleaning brush, but it took the whole can of Scrubbing Bubbles-usually a single can of that can last a year. I did find it a little odd while clearing the drain that the hairs within the debris (which included a bandaid ?what the hell?) were long, but the shampoo masculine. When, exactly, was this last cleaned?

Finally I had finished cleaning the fixtures and picked up the trash. The only thing left was the floor. As soon as the wet mop hit the floor, I noticed the pools of water it produced immediately turned a brackish yellow, almost brown. I'm not certain it's fully clean, but then, is a bathroom floor ever?

I live day-to-day on few values: cleanliness above all else, strength and endurance, loyalty and adherence to the law. So I already knew what I was going to do before I started cleaning, I'd give my new suite mate the ass ripping of a lifetime.

A day has passed and what used to be a dirty bathroom I'd now be proud to have a girl in. I haven't run into my suite mate yet, but I'm not really in the ass ripping mood, either. I'll probably just have a polite, yet stern talk with him and go apes*** if he acts indignant.