Roommates, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. If you live in a high rent city, chances are you have several people living with you. Some people are lucky enough that they've never had a moment where they wanted to strangle the person they're living with - those people cannot be trusted. Here are some personal stories from women and their experiences, both good and bad, when it comes to living with roommates.
What’s the worst incidents you’ve experience with a roommate?
"I'll be honest, I'm not good with living with other people and I have several horror stories. I think my last year of college living with the group of girls was by far the worst. I had been living with them for about three years but their ticks were getting under my skin my senior year. It was 5 of us living together in the house and it started out with just one cat...by the time I graduated we had 3, and almost had 4. My one housemate was an extreme hoarder who just couldn't allow certain things to live on the street. We had pointless furniture taking up open spaces, she brought home a giant plant from the student center, the list just kept going. There were fur balls everywhere, dirty dishes galore, and just general clutter everywhere." - Brittny
"I've had a roommate share a house with me twice. I live in Baltimore and the rent in the city is just way too high to afford by yourself on your average millennial salary. My first roommate was my best friend, she already stayed with me all the time so I figured we'd be great roommates, boy was I wrong. A week after moving into the house she had her new boyfriend staying with us 6 out of 7 nights of the week, and if that wasn't bad enough, she ended our lease 9 months early after only living together for 3 months, to move to California with her boyfriend (the one she'd only been dating for 3 months), we lost our security deposit and she made off with a few of my things as well, safe to say that friendship was over. My last roommate was the absolute worst though, she suffered from a lot of anxiety and OCD issues (but who doesn't these days?) and after a few months of living together it got out of control. If I changed the thermostat or had the TV volume on an uneven number she lost her mind, you would think it was the end of the world. Her dog chewed up my shoes, and all of my underwear because she let her roam freely through the house (which included my downstairs bedroom) and then would blame it on the dog having "anxiety". The worst however was how many of my things "mysteriously" disappeared. She would borrow my clothes and not return them, then claim she had no idea where they were...that was until I'd find them hidden in her room or other random spots, she even took my Manny Machado bobble heads I scored at the Orioles game and hid them in a random box in the basement. To this day I have no idea if she was doing things unconsciously and literally didn't remember, or if she was that spiteful, but needless to say, I'll never live with someone else again!" - Catrina
“My college roommate got pregnant while living in our dorm. I was literally feet away from them fooling around. I slept with earplugs in so I'd miss most of it (thank god). They ended up getting married and are living the life though! I hate having roommates. I've been married/living with someone for a long time and since my husband left it's amazing to have time to watch what I want, clean when I want, etc”. – Erika
"I have to say the worst incident I inflicted on my poor college roommate was bringing home a guy into my bottom bunk bed while she was sleeping on the top bunk. Let's just say there's no way she could have slept through the impending events. I still cringe thinking about this night, and I should definitely send out in the universe my condolences to my dignity." - Kristin
"I lived in a house with two guys my sophomore year of college and to say one of them was messy, is an understatement. He would leave dirty dishes and plates of half eaten food everywhere. Glasses were left out for weeks with old, smelly, beer. My other roommate (he was a great deal more considerate/organized) and I started piling his dishes up at his closed door hoping he would clean up. He would just open his door and step over them, NOT EVEN NOTICING THEM! Then we ran out of dishes and glasses. I bought paper plates just so he would get the message that I was not going to clean up for him. We then moved the dirty plates to his bed and that finally got him to realize how bad it was." - Sarah
"By far the worst was my first roommate in Austin. I moved here not knowing anyone and moved in with a chick who was in my graduate program. She left the key for me and my mom moved me into her house. She found a book in the living room called something like How to Be an Obedient Christian Wife: Submitting and Providing to You Husband. I hadn't physically met her yet and my mom screamed to me, "This isn't gonna work!" She was right! I also lived with an acquaintance after a breakup and her and her roommate got super messed up during SXSW, let my cat out and I could hear him crying for a few days straight. Everyone gets messed up during SXSW but...come on. I had friends in town and we finally found him days later sandwiched behind a washer in our neighbor's garage. Tragic." - Rachel
"My roommates were leaving one summer to go study abroad and to offset the cost of rent while they were gone they found someone through a friend to sublet their room to. Turns out the person was someone the friend had partied with during Freshman year but had no real connection to. At first he seemed fine, was courteous, hung out and socialized but then towards the end his behavior became erratic and manic. He would go on weird rambling tangents about the drugs he was doing and the people he would be hanging out with. He would create elaborate stories that made little sense and were clearly fabricated. One time I came home to hear arguing upstairs and the sound of a taser going off - his friend was trying to tase him! We had to threaten to call the cops to dispel the tense situation. The end came when one day he started slipping notes under one of the roommates door writing that he thought we were all actors spying on him and that there were cameras everywhere filming him. Terrified, my roommate, locked the door only to have him try to kick it down repeatedly. He was eventually taken away to a psychiatric facility for evaluation. We later realized he may be suffering from Truman Show delusion (not officially listed in the DSM). He was clearly having a psychotic breakdown of sorts. It was an unfortunate situation all around." - Helena
What is the best thing about having a roommate?
"The best thing about a roommate is always having someone to socialize with. Once I moved off my college campus, my roommate and I were forever watching dvds in bed drinking wine. Our particular favorite was Sex and The City (my former roommate teases me to this day about my love for the show). Parties are great, but nothing beat relaxing with a friend laughing until our stomachs hurt." - Kristin
"The built in community that comes with having someone present for all the moments - good, bad and everything in between. If you have a good roommate then you've got a great friend. Having access to their clothes is also a plus, with permission of course " - Helena
“I think the best is coming home to a group of people you enjoy being around and being able to watch movies or comfort one another during difficult times. I remember our Britney Spears parties, our horror movie nights, and celebrating Halloween together.” – Brittny
"I lived with my best friend for 3 years and we love almost all the same movies, music, tv, etc...so I loved that. The best thing about a random roommate would be some company when you're younger and single. " - Rachel
Funniest story while living with your current/former roommate?
“I will never forget waking up on a Friday morning to a knock on my door when my roommate tells me she has something to tell me. She had lost her front tooth and had no idea how it happened. The entire house bonded together, took her to the dentist, created a story to tell her family and the dentist as the reasoning for the missing tooth. Through detective work, we were able to trace her steps and figure out how it all went down…she fell trying to piggy back off of a guy’s back. The sweet part was...the guy returned her tooth.” - Brittny
"One of my former roommates used to bring home guys all the time (more power to her!), but would never admit to hooking up. One night, we could clearly hear some business going on at about 3AM, and asked her about it the next day. She claimed that her and her date decided to do "burpees" (some exercise move) at 3AM. " - Kristin
How do you initiate a problem you have with a roommate?
"I am usually very passive aggressive but with a roommate it gets to a certain point and then I blow up because you can't avoid them. Sometimes I write a letter or note explaining that I am upset and these are the reasons why.... Then we talk it over face to face. If I tried to speak with them about my complaints/concerns without writing it out first, it did not go well and I just would end up looking like the crazy one." - Sarah
"I try to hit it head on depending on our relationship. If I wasn't really friends with them, I'll send an email or note, talk face to face as little as possible. If it's a friend, face to face ALWAYS." - Rachel
"I always used my typical coping mechanism of pretending nothing happened and then just letting my anger percolate. This is why I am a terrible roommate." - Kristin
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