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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

14 Things I Wish I Had Internalized About Roommates When I Shipped Off to College

This stems from a conversation with Husband a few nights ago.

For my sister.

1. Leaving notes is NEVER a good idea, unless it’s a “Have a nice day!” post-it stuck in someone’s lunch box. Handling problems with notes just makes the note-readers more angry. Always better to flush it out in-person. 
  • This means that, if someone leaves YOU a note, you reply to it in-person.
  • This is also great because, if the note-leaver is non-confrontational, you'll probably win the "argument" anyway.
  • I-statements!
  • Make sure the problem is worth the conflict. Sometimes you just have to accept annoying things about roommates and move on.

2. Share your dishes.

3. Wash your dishes.
  • And for the love of all that's holy, leaving a roommate's dishes in their bed is NEVER a good idea, despite what others may tell you.

4. Be willing to share meals with roommates, even if they don't share theirs with you.

5. You can hit the snooze button once. After that, if you're sharing a room, it's rude.

6. Fake patience. If you can't, leave the room. Always better to fume alone than to start problems that will haunt you for the rest of the school year.

7. Be careful who you roommate-vent to.

8. If you have a roommate who is seriously out to get you, don't be afraid to stand up to them. Sometimes those people need to be called out (firmly, not rudely). I wish I had done this more often.

9. Don't play your angry music super loud to make a point. I know from experience that this form of expression does not promote bunk-mate happiness.

10. Clean up after yourself.

11. Always thank the roommate who is cleaning a community area. Gratitude makes for happy living.

12. Giving roommates rides to places always earns roommate points. On the flip side, don't ask the same person for a ride too often.

13. Don't leave your hair stuck to the walls of the shower.

14. Fake it 'til you make it. Then move out.




(Also, happy birthday to Sister #1!)


9 comments:

  1. I wish I had figured out #8 sooner, too. And thanks for the b-day nod!

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  2. Great list. I was pretty lucky and mostly had good roommates. Still, there were some super hard times.

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  3. Ugh, roommates... not my favourite part of the education process!

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  4. #7 is very true, haha. And as far as #5 goes, it was a music alarm!! Who doesn't like music?! You are a music hater. The radio station I listened to was good. Haha, love you :) I am thankful that I had you as a roommate! Sorry if I was messy or weird or never there when Mark came into my life!

    <3

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  5. #13- hilarious! It also applies to husbands... ;)

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  6. I was a terrible roomate my freshman year, and then I got married. My poor hubby taught me a lot.

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  7. Ah, roommates. My first roommate was one of my best friends and I think we nearly quit being friends over it! My second roommate ending up being a jerk towards the end (can't even remember what about). Glad I'm more mature now and live with hubs, who I mesh with much better.

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  8. Great list! I wasn't the best roommate but, at the same time, I definitely wasn't the worse out there. It'd be nice to be able to go back and show my younger self this list!

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  9. Oh, the roommate stories I will one day tell.

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