Living With Roommates – 1

Living with a roommate is a challenging scenario. It can sometimes feel like a short-term marriage without the intimacy. Many times you have the “pleasure” to meet your roommate’s immediate family and “if you are lucky,” you even meet his extended family. Living with a roommate can be fun and rewarding. It can also lead to lifelong friendships. But on the other hand, it can be unpleasant and frustrating.

People have different habits and ways of living. Therefore, things that seem right to you could be unacceptable to another person. If you are going to be sharing an apartment with a roommate, it would be very wise to discuss the conditions in advance. Mind you, it doesn’t mean disagreements would not arise in the future, but it reduces the possibility of them taking place.

When I was younger I shared apartments with several roommates for a few years. The majority of my roommates were male and were very nice. But most of them had the same disease…… They simply did not like to clean the shared areas and would try to avoid doing the chores. When they saw I was annoyed they would do a half assed job (not good quality work).

One of them was exceptional and we got along great, yet he didn’t do any housework. When I asked why he doesn’t do his share, his answer was “my mother never wanted me to do any cleaning” …….. and I said, “well, I’m not your mother.” I made it clear to him I would not do the work for him. And if he doesn’t want to do any cleaning, he should hire a maid. But he didn’t do any cleaning and didn’t hire a maid either. Eventually, I just left the apartment.

I have to say that I enjoyed sharing space with some of my roommates and some just drove me nuts. At some point, I decided to live by myself. Indeed it was much more expensive but worth every penny. Anyway, I remember I was once looking for an apartment that would fit my budget and was close to where I was working. I was really desperate as I was looking for a long time. It was one of those times there were no apartments available. In the end, I went to see an apartment that more or less met my requirements.

The roommates seemed nice but the apartment was too small. In addition, there was only one big wardrobe which was located in my room and I had to share it with the roommate. Obviously, I did not like it. But the guy assured me that it wouldn’t be an issue, as he would take anything he needed at a time that was convenient for me. He also promised he wouldn’t invade my privacy. Well, I didn’t have any other alternative, so I agreed to share the apartment with him.

However, my roommate liked dating flamboyant women who also tended to be possessive. Luckily for me, I met just two of his girlfriends. Still, it was two too many. Sometimes they would come to the apartment when he was absent and would try to get information from me about him. I really didn’t like that as I felt I was being interrogated. Besides, I didn’t want to be caught in the middle and I didn’t give a damn what he was doing in his personal life.

Another thing that irritated me was when he broke up with them, they continued showing up at our door looking for him. They just couldn’t let go of him. But they were a piece of cake compared to my roommate’s cousin who lived two blocks from us and was a real piece of work.

When I first met my roommate’s cousin Linda, I thought she was bombastic. My roommate described her as a person with a big mouth but with a good heart……. She would come over and bring food (she was a good cook) but never leave. She would talk loud and nonstop, yet she was an authentic person. What you see is what you get, and I kind of liked her. Linda also shared an apartment with roommates but somehow most of them did not last long.

She used to complain about them all the time (each time it was someone else). Every time she had an argument with her roommate, she would call to tell me about it. She would call in the morning to update me and would gradually raise her voice. I hated it when she did that. I am also not a morning person and I mentioned it to her more than once. Still it was like talking to the wall. She didn’t care as she needed to release some steam and no one was willing to listen to her including her own cousin.

Sometimes when I decided enough was enough and I wouldn’t answer her call, she would come to my apartment, and knock on the door until I opened it. I don’t know why, but Linda acted as though I owed her something. She behaved like an immature person who needed supervision, despite the fact that she was quite a bit older than me………

To Be Continued…….