The first three years I had a roommate I was blessed with an
absolutely amazing roommate.
The other people I have lived with I always compare to how
amazingly we got along and no one has quite measured up, especially not the
terror of a roommate I had when I first moved back from Bellingham.
While there is not
one correct way to load a dishwasher,
there is definitely a wrong way;
This most certainly is the wrong way.
Note how the large cookie sheet is on the
top rack with other
dishes on top of it…
she also had the lovely habit of placing cups
face up
allowing them to accumulate
ALL of the dirty dish water with nowhere to go.
Ask them:
- types of music they listen to
- what there sleep schedule is like
- how ofte they like to have people over
- how long of showers they like to take
- if they clean up their dish mess
- if they are loud when they know you are sleeping
- if they help with general household chores
- what they think their duties of a roomie are
As silly as it seems to ask some of these question, they are important in order to get
to know the type of home your roommate likes to keep before you sign the lease
because once you have there is no going back, because a lot of the time the most simple over looked questions end up being the most important.
Kirstin,
ReplyDeleteHaha! I loved this blog post for a few reasons. First, I can relate - BIG TIME. Second, it made me think of a funny story from college: I lived with 3 other girls during my sophomore year at college. We had a super cute Spanish style house in a great neighborhood, and I loved the variation between my roommates. But (as in a lot of situations), a few of us were much closer to each other. Unfortunately in this case, 3 of us were great friends and the 4th didn't really hang out/relate with us. Long story short, when she finally did try to spend more time with us, she ended up staying at home more, eating more meals with us and thus using more dishes than she had before. To get to the point, we had to literally TEACH her how to use a dishwasher. This is something that was so appalling to me, coming from a home where I was taught how to use the dishwasher ever since I could use my own utensils. Doing dishes came second nature to me. This particular roommate didn't even know where to put the soap...sufficed to say it caused a few problems :)
Anyways, great post and I am in total agreement with the 'roommate questionnaire.'
Cheers,
Kate
This is a hilarious blog. I shared it with my sister. I like your dishwasher picture and your description. I had five guys as roommates. The sad, sad, thing is sharing one bathroom with five dudes. They loved showering after me because I would literally scrub the darn thing and they’d joke like I was doing anthrax cleansing. I put up with them, all best friends, because they spoiled me, too. I don’t worry when we would go out and I never did the yard work because they got it covered. I don’t know how I survived them but I would never room with guys again. Icky.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I agree somewhat on what you are talking about. I was very fortunate to move out with my best friend. I wouldn't nessecarily say she was the "cleanest" person but she always kept the "common" areas clean. For the most part she kept her room a disaster and since I didn't live in there it didn't matter to me. She did have her times where she was lazy but she made up for it with making dinner. I do not cook what so ever, so having a home cooked meal rather than boxed food was amazing.
ReplyDeleteI am with Myra, I truly understand what it means to have a bad roommate. About the washer, my dad was so particular about the washer, that he would not allow any of us to load. LOL. I think you're quite correct in that you need to interview the people you will be living with. Wonderful blog, Rebecca
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree with you anymore. I have had bad roommates and it sucks. But your roommate seems to never have done chores in their life! I'm so sorry, I hope your lease is up soon!
ReplyDeleteI am definitely empathetic to those with selfish roommates. After the experience of my last roommate, I will not have a roommate again. And that is despite the fact that my roommate is someone that I have known my entire life (since I was less than 18 months old) and who is my best friend.
ReplyDeleteNobody is perfect, and I am sure I irritated him with things as well. But he had the nasty habit of allowing every single dish in the house to stack up dirty to the point where my girlfriend and I ended up cleaning his mess all of the time. He is a very loud person in general, and even though my girlfriend and I had our own floor (our own living room as well), we could hear him all the time from upstairs. Not just footsteps (he only weighs 165 but you would guess 375 by the way he walks!) but his voice. His voice CARRIES! He is a nightowl and would have people over until 4am way too often.
I have had better roommates as well, but they still irritated me. I like how it is now, just my girlfriend and I. Unless something goes terribly south with my career, then we can always keep it that way. Saving money by having roommates just is not worth it if you can afford it IMHO.