People Spill The Beans About Their Most Outlandish Roommates
16. A Serious Drinking Problem
“I’ve lived with a total of 7 different roommates in my life, but this one was by far the worst. Let’s call him Stupidhead.
After moving out of the dorms, I decided to try my luck with random roommates through a cheap (but actually pretty nice) student living apartment. When I walked in, the place reeked, and shortly after noticing that, I then looked up to see a monstrosity of a liquor bottle graveyard above the cabinets.
It went across the entire kitchen (roughly 30 feet), and there were three rows in total. I convinced myself it was no big deal because I am in a college-aged apartment complex, so it’s expected that people drink a lot and that a majority of the bottles probably came from past parties.
No one was home in this 4 bedroom apartment, so I scrubbed the entire place down, lit a candle, and tried my best to settle in.
After about 3 days, I finally hear someone in the kitchen. Out of excitement and curiosity, I exit my room to greet my new roomie. Holy. Moly. I am not one to really comment on someone’s appearance, but forget this guy. This dude was the most hideous person I’ve ever seen in my 23 years of living. He was balding terribly (the hair looked like pubes glued onto his head), he had a gross neckbeard (also pube-like), TERRIBLE acne, stained clothes, terrible posture, and was very short (which gave him even more of a goblin structure).
I immediately noticed he smelt of booze, and it was only noon on a Sunday. Mind you, he was a 29-year-old dropout. We chatted for a bit; it was extremely awkward, so I dipped back into my room.
Fast forward a week or so, I met the other roommate, this dude was great. He was clean, had a good social life, easy to talk to, A+ person.
He gave me a ride to Target, so I could pick up some things. On our way there he said, “Look man, I’m moving out about 2 months because I only signed a 6-month lease. Stupidhead is terrible. He gets blacked out every night and passes out on the couch. Move out ASAP.” Unfortunately, it would have cost me $300 to switch roommates, and I didn’t have that at the time.
I talked to Stupidhead about the other roommate, and he told me that he moved in about 2 weeks ago.
I didn’t know how to respond to this because the cool roommate actually moved in about 3 months ago. This is when I realized how bad of an alcoholic this dude was.
Eventually, the cool roomie moves out, and Stupidhead decides to take control of the living room. He watches Simpsons on an old TV until about 3 am while drinking countless 40 ozs and leaves the backdoor open when he smokes.
I put my foot down after about 3 days of this: no TV after 12 am, clean up your liquor bottles, and flipping close the backdoor. He actually agreed to my terms, and so I accepted the compromise and moved on.
Fast forward to the 4th of July. I got lunch at Chilis with the boys and dropped off my leftovers (this will be important later). I spent the entire day getting drunk, watching explosions in the sky, and just having a jolly good time.
When I made it home, I witnessed the crime scene my roommate left for me. My leftovers were plastered across the kitchen counters, and the to-go box was on the floor. I am not one to yell at people, but when you mess with my leftovers, all rules and decency go out the window. Stupidhead was passed out on the couch. I started yelling, “STUPIDHEAD, WAKE THE HECK UP!” and he slept through it.
I started nudging him, and he jolted up with eyes so wide, it looked like he had a vision like “That’s So Raven.” I started yelling about the leftovers, which turned into a lecture about his life and how he needed to get his stuff together. Stupidhead replied, “Dude, I didn’t eat your leftovers; the other roommate did.” I had to sit him down and explain how that was impossible because he had already been moved out for 2 months. Eventually, I forced him to pay me back for my Chilis meal because it was pretty expensive.
Stupidhead, first off, screw you. Secondly, I really hope you overcame your drinking problem and have improved your life, even though I strongly doubt it.”
15. Don't Ever Get A Job With Your Jerk Roommate
Biggest. Mistake. Ever.
“For me to list all of the reasons why my roommate is a jerk and I hate her would be a whole separate rant, so this is specific to our job.
It started in September. I work at our school’s equipment checkout for the communications department, and this includes sometimes being scheduled for the front desk of the computer labs. She said she’s always wanted to work there, and we were hiring (by recommendation ONLY).
so I gave her my boss’s email. When I asked if she applied; she admitted she forgot, so I helped her out and told her to email my boss that she’s free during the shifts I knew she wanted to be filled. I also told her to mention she’s my roommate since I’m very close with my boss.
First of all, she REFUSES to let me carpool with her to work (I don’t have a car).
The other day, we walked out of our apartment together for our shift at the same time. I saw her visibly holding her keys and asked if she was driving, and she said, “Umm, I don’t know,” then BOOKED IT to her car!! I texted her saying what gives, and she went off on ME for “inviting myself” in her car and how I’m not entitled to a ride.
WE ARE LEAVING THE SAME PLACE, GOING TO THE SAME PLACE, AT THE SAME TIME! She said gas and parking cost money, so I don’t get to ride with her, but I have offered to split both. And she’s way better off than me financially/wouldn’t have this source of income without me. It’s literally a 5-minute drive (not even because we work on campus) versus a 15-minute walk, and I’m disabled.
Meanwhile, I’m scheduled in the equipment station (while she’s scheduled for the front desk), so if I could avoid doing labor before more labor, that would be great, but she said just take the shuttle. What the flip?! HOW HARD IS IT TO LET ME SIT IN YOUR CAR WITH YOU IF YOU’RE ALREADY DRIVING?! Plus, I introduced her to one of my sorority sisters (another huge mistake), and she is OBSESSED with her.
Will bend over backward again and again (this is part of the much bigger issue that I said would take another rant). The other day, she literally said, “I’m driving to work if you want a ride on the way,” but can’t even drive me when I WORK WITH HER.
Second, she straight up doesn’t take the job seriously. The other day, she texted in our group chat with our other roommate, and the sorority sister like, ‘Omg, guys.
I’m sooo stupid, hahahaha’ because it turns out for as long as she’s been working here, people have constantly come in to ask if we have SD card readers, and she told them no, but the other day, she “looked at our list of responsibilities and saw that we do.” WHY WAS LOOKING AT THE RESPONSIBILITIES NOT THE FIRST THING YOU DID? IT’S ALSO LIKE THE ONLY REAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FRONT DESK! And she kept treating it like a joke like it was so funny of her.
IT’S NOT! Students need that equipment! A girl literally came into the checkout area and asked for one, and I told her we had them upstairs at the computer labs only for my dumb as rocks roommate to tell her we didn’t (that’s what inspired her to actually look at the responsibilities but only after the girl left). That was Tuesday.
Today, she said a girl brought in $20 that she found on the ground, and instead of taking it to the lost and found, they SPENT IT ON COFFEE AND DONUTS FOR THEMSELVES! Granted this was her whole shift and not just her, but she was like, “Omg, I’m so happy.
I got free coffee.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That girl obviously didn’t know where the lost and found was, so she brought it to us to take,. If someone was going to pocket the $20, it should have been the girl who found it and not my dumb coworkers who I have half a mind to report because that’s jacked up. When I asked why she didn’t take it to the lost and found, she said, “Oh, [OP].
Please” and “Relax, [OP].”
Also, she exclusively talks to me in either demeaning or passive-aggressive ways, and I had a talk with her about it a week ago, but that obviously didn’t get through her thick skull. She’s also CONSTANTLY texting me to ask where things are/how to do certain things, and I’m like, text our freaking supervisor. One time, my boss walked in on her eating IN THE DARK.
Honestly, we aren’t allowed to eat, but everyone does it anyway, but why the hell did she have the light off?
I’m also not allowed to say that I got her the job because she gets really angry that “it makes her feel like she wasn’t qualified” even though, 1. I literally did get her the job, 2. SHE EVIDENTLY ISN’T QUALIFIED BECAUSE SHE’S TERRIBLE AT IT, and 3.
THE ONLY QUALIFICATION FOR THE JOB WAS BEING AVAILABLE WHEN MY BOSS NEEDED PEOPLE. THAT IS THE ONLY QUALIFICATION.
In addition, she has an attitude all the time and was rude to our boss. Our boss had me go to the desk with her to help with something while my roommate was on shift there. We were trying to talk to her/make jokes (not at her expense), and she legit was like, “Okay, you guys can leave now.” Like…? I’m actually embarrassed to be associated with her. I hate her. Every one of my friends who has met her has hated her. I’m so happy she’s graduating, so I can tell my boss how much I hate her once she’s gone.”
14. He Thought My Severe Depression Was Fake
“I have bipolar disorder and mild autism. Before diagnosis and medication, I would have these intense bouts of depression or mania, but I would always attribute it to my current living situation.
My last job was a sales job, and I only lasted 3 months before my weak as hell social skills were exposed and ridiculed. Frankly put, I was way too introverted to be a salesman; it’s even more embarrassing when I remember how confident I was going into the job (I was on the end of a manic phase).
So now after that experience, I was at the bottom of the barrel and started slipping into a severe depression, and after a while, I was having regular dark thoughts.
I started therapy. My roommate objected; he said therapy is a scam, and mental illness is just something you can simply shake off and that I just need to use the money for my therapy to go on vacation. Clearly, there was something off with his thinking, but we didn’t argue further at that point.
Every day, I was miserable, could barely get out of bed, and felt completely dead inside.
After a couple of weeks, he ”got tired of it” and started harassing me:
”If you’re gonna kill yourself, at least give me some money before you do.”
”You’re not sick; you’re just lazy and weak. I don’t even believe you’re suicidal.”
”Don’t lock the front door before leaving the house. No one is gonna break in. You’re stupid for doing that.” (On that one, his tone was super judgmental, trying to order me around)
He left knives out on the counter.
I tell him not to and that the knives are mine, then tells me to go away and that he’ll do whatever he wants. I took the knives back to my room because they’re mine after all, and also, they made me think of cutting myself. He then went and bought cheap as hell Dollar Store knives and put them on the counter.
”This is just a game you’re playing; you want attention.”
I accidentally dropped a bedsheet on the floor.
Then he comes in the room right after, immediately starts to literally yell at the top of his lungs at me over that bedsheet and how I purposely dropped it to spite him when I did no such thing; I was trying to explain, but I couldn’t do it over him yelling. He was at max volume over a flipping bedsheet.
While riding in his car, I’m in the passenger seat with takeout food we bought.
I had been friends with him for over 2 years, and I never dropped anything ever in his car. I almost dropped one of the bags, and he exploded at me, even worse when I told him to chill out and that this never happened before. He just got more mad at me for even talking back. He even said the words, ”Don’t talk back to me; this is my car’.’
While smoking mary jane, he passed the joint to another person while I was next.
I tell him it’s my turn; he starts telling me I’m wrong and stupid.
That was the last straw. I was completely blinded by rage soon after the mary jane incident. I did some minor damage to his car, broke the A/C he had in his room, and burned a bunch of his mail in my bathroom sink (including a letter that was telling him to pay a fine for a parking ticket).
Now here’s some important stuff to know about this guy:
– He used to sell credit cards but often would lie to the customer telling him or her that it was just a gift card they were getting.
– He was a door-to-door salesman for about a year.
He would sit in his car with his buddies all day and just do the minimum amount of sales to not get fired, while pocketing a good base salary; though, eventually, he got fired anyway
– He was pretending to be a manager at a company owned by his friend’s uncle. He had them pay him a salary, and he would repay them with intention of getting approved for his permanent residence.
So, in conclusion, about a week after moving out, I called immigration and gave them his name, address, the details of his fake employment, etc. That was 2 years ago. I have no idea what happened to him since.”
13. You Will NOT Ruin This Exam For Me
“I have 2 roommates, one who was away on a cruise for the weekend, and the other who is 18 and works at a strip club and doesn’t go to college. This story is about the second roommate who is honestly one of the dumbest girls I’ve ever met, so her name shall be “Dumb Idiot.”
Last night, I was up until past midnight after being awake since 6 am working and doing homework before finals and such.
I was exhausted. I fell asleep with dreams of kittens frolicking in my head when, what felt like 20 minutes later, I heard the loud bang that signals the front door slamming shut.
Taking a quick look at my alarm clock, I see the time at a glorious 5:18 am. I am not amused.
Now, Dumb Idiot works the night shift as a cocktail waitress at The Penthouse Gentlemen’s Club, so she often gets in at 4 or 5 in the morning on weekends.
Fine. I’m a college girl; I like to party as much as the next, and I’m usually passed out by the time she gets home, so she rarely bothers me.
But tonight was different. It was a Sunday night, and being the dumb idiot that she is, she decided to bring home one of her dancer friends and scream and laugh at the top of their lungs while taking copious amounts of shots.
Now, I’m 21, I’ve had my fair share of all-nighters, but I had an exam the next morning and needed to sleep. Since she doesn’t go to school, she has no respect for my other roommate and I’s class schedules. I asked her nicely to please be quieter because the man and I had class in the morning, and they were being louder than they thought.
My reply was to be blissfully ignored until 7 in the morning when they finally passed out. That was when I decided to take my revenge the next morning.
Her dancer friend was sound asleep on Roommate 1’s foldout bed in the living room, which is right next to the kitchen. (Remember, Roommate 1 is out of town, so she didn’t ask to use it. Rude.)
Being the healthy person I am, I decided to make a nice loud breakfast for my man and I bright and early at 9 am, “accidentally” dropping pans and silverware.
I was so clumsy this morning! That’s when I saw the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. I couldn’t just leave them there! So, I decided to wash those as noisily as possible. At this point, Dancer Girl is tossing and turning and pulling the pillow over her head to try and block out all of the “accidental” noise I was making. The boy toy and I enjoyed a nice breakfast of egg sandwiches and bacon before I finished the grand finale of my master plan.
Our dishwasher is loud. I mean loud enough to wake the neighbors on a calm night.
Being as I had just finished doing all of the dishes in the sink, the dishwasher was full. I couldn’t leave a bunch of dirty dishes in the dishwasher all day because God knows Dumb Idiot wasn’t going to turn it on!
I gave the biggest poop-eating smile to my man and turned that bad boy on because clean dishes.”
12. You Can Start By Helping Paying The Bills
“This story takes place a couple of years back. During college, I lived with several roommates. All of them were nice, and we got along… Well, except for this one idiot. Let’s call her Karen.
She is a loud-mouthed, stupid, egocentric jerk who has a face that could scare the crap out of a toilet.
She would never clean up after herself. She would always leave her plates and things at the spot where she last used them.
I have lost count of how many times I caught her stealing my clothes without asking. Yet, if you touch her clothes, she loses her crap on you. She would drink our lactose-intolerant roommate’s almond milk, and any time we confronted her for drinking it, she would shrug and say, “I only had a sip. Stop being so stingy.” She plays her music loud at night, invites strangers without giving any heads up, a time or two she didn’t pay rent even though her parents are FILTHY RICH and she even wears luxury Gucci shoes and Prada garbage, and Karen also freaking lies about everything even things that are not worth lying about.
Like, if she woke up 7, and you ask her, she’ll lie through her flipping teeth and say she rose with the sunrise because she is a natural. (P.S., this is something I actually heard her say to her parents while she was Skyping them…. So cringy. Who the hell says that? But I digress.)
Months we have freaking put up with her, and of course, we tried to get other roommates, but, unfortunately, when we all moved in everything, all documents and contracts were done in her name, so kicking her out would require a lot of effort, and most of us were busy with school and work, and life happens.
So, we ignore it as much as we can and try to move on.
We were now all seniors and in our final semesters, meaning graduation was coming, AND Karen is planning a backpacking trip across Europe with her friends as a graduation gift to herself. This is important, so remember this.
One of our roommates and my closest friend, Sasha, has had a crush on a guy that lives down the hall.
Any time the two of them are together, Sasha and the guy keep giving each other googly eyes and blushing faces; it was sooo cute. Sasha is a verbally autistic person and has never dated anyone because she has a hard time with socializing and understanding social cues and subtlety, which let’s face it, that is the core of seeing someone, especially flirting. But with a lot of encouragement from me and the final roommate, Lola, we got her to ask him out.
He said yes. She was so happy, you guys. She flew back into the apartment and did an hour of happy dance with her arms flailing about and a poop-eating grin on her face. Needless to say, we were all so happy.
Karen caught wind of this, and it just so happens that at that time, she was having relationship problems. I guess her man finally realized he was seeing human garbage.
Not one to be outshined, Karen behind all of our backs went to the guy’s place and spun lies about Sasha, saying she is a serial cheater and even made a fake account for Sasha’s so-called man. The guy never called Sasha, and eventually, weeks passed by, and he told us why, but by then, Sasha felt like the damage was done and lost interest in him.
I. WAS. FREAKING. FURIOUS.
This level of jerkiness and bloody pettiness is the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, and I vowed I wouldn’t freaking leave until I served my slice of justice.
Here’s another character that you must know about: Professor C. His wife two years ago was in a horrible car accident, and as a result, is now in a wheelchair. This is especially problematic because she was a stay-at-home mom who took care of their two special needs kids, and they have a toddler at home.
Homelife is a mess for him. He is running ragged between working and single-handedly is taking care of his family.
The uni took pity and also feared the workload would cause one of their best and most beloved teachers to leave, so the school struck a deal with him to help him out.
In all of his classes, there would be quizzes and midterms; this doesn’t change, but the assignments you submit, he corrects at the end of the year.
This is important because our uni normally has zero-tolerance on professors who don’t constantly update the students’ course works so that students have the chance to improve their grades.
Karen, the lazy and stupid jerk she is, is somehow skating through his assignments, even though they require a crap ton of research and writing. I accidentally learned that one of her older friends told her that she only needs to submit the paper on its due date and only write the first 3 pages and use a paraphrasing tool for the rest of the paper, so the plagiarism software won’t detect it and would think its original material, and when the end of the year comes, she’d submit a hard copy but with the first pages being her actual work and the rest being completely plagiarized, professional work.
Professor C. wouldn’t know because the likelihood a man as busy as him would be thoroughly checking the work of 120+ students is pretty low.
I grinned. A plan was beginning to formulate in my head. She is going down! All semester-long, I let her do this for all of the 7 papers, one of them which is a term paper that has 20% on it alone.
All the while, I spied and gathered all of her passcodes, social media, her student ID, everything.
The end of the year came, and I compiled all of her assignments, both the original one with the paraphrasing tools she used to circumvent plagiarism and the one she finally handed them in, and I even made photos where there is a side-to-side comparison of the assignments.
This is a good start but not enough.
So, one day chilling at the living room, I open a conversation about relationships, and Karen is two-timing her new man and is sleeping with some other person. So, I ask her questions like, “Don’t you feel guilty for cheating?” and “You do realize this is wrong?” and I even paraphrase my words in a way that is vague but also clear. For example, I would say, “It’s not fair.
So many people work so hard every day to be successful, and you are here cheating and lying your way to success.”
Karen, narcissistic as hell, would respond with snippets of, “I don’t care” and how she isn’t cheating and that she is only having fun and that everyone does it so why not her too.
This is too good to be true. Even her answers are vague.
It’s like God put his hand on my shoulder, looked me right in the eyes, and said, “Bury this idiot,” and I’d be damned if I didn’t.
As you probably have guessed it by now, I was recording EVERYTHING. The recording plus the photos and with her assignments were more than enough evidence, I sent an anonymous email to the professor, and I tell the girls so that they can prep for the crazy storm that’s coming.
Three weeks later, the results are out. She failed and LOST HER MARBLES. She was screaming, crying, wailing, what a sight to see! You best believe the girls and I were laughing. She tried to talk to the prof, but he was not having it.
She cried and begged for a second chance, but he said a hard no. So, now she has two options: she goes ahead and doesn’t graduate with us and takes on a whole other semester for one measly course, or she has to take a summer course and cancel her trip to Europe, which, mind you, she spent a lot on, something like $13,000, and I know it could have been much cheaper, but Princess Karen only wanted the best.
The next couple of weeks, she had sleepless nights because she was calling and canceling all the reservations she made, trying to get her money back, BUT (again, God really was out for blood that day) because the cancellation was so close to some her trip most places refused to refund, or some charged her cancellation fees.
She only managed to scrap $5,500 back together, losing $7,500.
OUCH!
But it’s not over. Having damning evidence, I, with earned gusto, told her she was going to pay all of the bills until we moved out, which was in two months. This was payback for all the times she was late on a payment or defaulted, and she would, from now on do her part of the house chores or else I’m going to send it all to the admin and faculty dean, and she will for sure be kicked out, and all those uni years will have been for nothing.
She hated it; she freaking threw tantrums and cussed me out, but my God, if she didn’t do what she was told… She cleaned her stuff, apologized to Sasha for what she did, I forced her to come clean to her man (I don’t know the guy, but the few times I met him, he was super sweet to us, and I felt bad for him), and I watched her actually do the dishes for the first time in like years.
It was flipping amazing, and I don’t regret it one bit. In fact, anytime I feel sad now as an adult, I kick back my feet and reminiscence, and a slow poop-eating grin draws itself upon my face.”
11. His Aggression Is An Issue
“One of my roommates who I have been “lifelong” friends with since elementary school has now gone awol on me. It all really started last semester coming off our freshman year. We were both engineering majors and had intentions of having a household (4 of us total) that would all be studying engineering so that we can collaborate with each other on assignments and study for exams together.
Last year prior to covid, he seemed to care about school, but maybe I was oblivious to his care towards school since I did not live in the same dorm room as him? But this past semester, he had zero empathy for school and would do what many would expect from a future college dropout… drink, smoke, excessively party, wake up at 2 pm + in the afternoon, and play video games until 6 am in the morning.
Believe me: this is all true. But the real question of the matter was, were his parents going to take action? Hardly, over the past few months, I have seen them grow as enablers, but I will fill you in on that later on.
Around the Christmas break, we had made intentions of living together again the next year when our lease comes up in August, and our friend’s dad just purchased a home in the area for us to live in.
Sweet deal, right? Well, I spoke to my friend about the situation my roommate was going through vaguely, and his dad did not like the sounds of it; in fact, he said he did not want my roommate in the house next year. His main concern was citing it would bring down the morale of the house if everyone was not trying to reach the same goal.
I totally agree and feel that same vibe in my current living situation. This is where the story really starts; this all happened about 2.5 months ago.
Once my friend spoke to my roommate (a lifelong friend) about having to find somewhere else to live. He did not take it lightly; in fact, he immediately started shooting off text messages at me threatening me and trying to lie his way out of the situation, but not a single text message I responded to because I wanted to be the bigger person.
We did not speak for a week after that but randomly one night I get a text asking if I could come outside to talk, and of course, I would do that because I did not want the friendship to end regardless of the outcome of housing.
Well, I got in his car to talk, and he brought a friend along to “moderate” the discussion. I asked him what he would like to talk about, and I explained my reasoning for vaguely mentioning his situation out of concern to my friend.
Why, might you ask? Because I have done everything in my power to find ways to help him succeed, but nothing has worked. I would even send him homework for specific classes that all he had to do was copy and paste, and he would not even turn that in.
As the car ride went on, he progressively got angrier, and I would keep at a monotone voice and cite my answers while he would begin to yell, cuss, and verbally assault me about my personality.
It felt as if he never liked being my friend in the first place. I finally asked for him to just take me home because I felt unsafe in the vehicle as he was asserting how he would fight me or even crash the car at a moment’s notice. I ended up running inside to speak to my other roommate about the situation so that I could settle down, as he drove off into the night.
Since that moment, he has sent threatening text messages, pulled petty stunts, and more recently tried to upcharge the water bill in trying to ask for more money than he needs to pay off the bill.
Everyone in my household and around him has tried to cope or talk to him about if something is going on or better yet how he can better himself. He is the type of guy that hates being told what to do, and any idea is terrible unless it is his idea.
I know moving forward he will not speak to me or even listen to me better yet. But his BS has started to affect my living situation as it is making it hard to continue to live in my current residence. I have come to this dilemma as I have been lifelong friends with him I find it in my morale boundary to call his parents and give them my side of the story because I know how much he lies to his parents.
I almost want to close that chapter and make sure I am leaving knowing I did the right thing, and they know as well. I want to play it as safely as possible.
A couple of things I want to note that led us to cut him out of the housing contract for next year was his persistent lack of care for school. After he changed his major over the Christmas break, he continued to fail assignments and do the usual things that have prohibited him from exceeding.
Why might I think his parents are enablers? Because over the course of the past year and his shenanigans, they are finally starting to pick up on what’s going on. How do I know that? Because they will drive from his hometown almost twice a week to sit with him for 6+ hours to help and watch him study. Anyways, they have also spent over $10,000 on miscellaneous items on him that are not needed to exceed in college — that is since august.”
Another User Comments:
“It sounds like this guy is showing his true colors. Considering that you told his parents out of concern for him, I don’t see a problem with what you did. At this point, I’d cut my losses and move on from him. Maybe one day he’ll understand why you did what you did, or maybe he never will. You have your own life to live.” Equinephilosopher
10. She Had A Personality Switch After Moving In With Me
“Last summer 2020, my best friend (25f) and I (23f) purchased a house together that we would live in for a year and use as a rental property afterward. Everything was happy and exciting until moving day when she had a complete personality switch and lashed out on me. The day we got the keys to the property, she was moving all her things in, so I decided that I would just bring some of my kitchen boxes and unpack those.
She didn’t have any kitchen items to bring other than her Keurig, so everything I brought was going to be shared. I put stuff away so that when the time came for it, and she wanted to get some stuff of her own, she could, but she was welcome to use mine. She was mad I didn’t discuss which cupboard things were going into and decide with her.
I responded with I would be happy to do that, and she kept screaming and insulting me as a person.
Later that day, after not speaking, I said to her that this was stupid, and we shouldn’t let something like this ruin a good thing. She was short with me but agreed. Her lashing out behavior continued and progressed to more brutal attacks.
She refused to do anything around the house.
She didn’t take out the garbage. She won’t cut the grass. Any cleaning she won’t do. My breaking point was when she left one of my pots on the counter for 2 weeks straight with bacon grease in it. I asked her politely to clean it up. She went from 0-10 accusing me of being bossy and trying to control her. I was shocked not once did I complain about the fact she has literally contributed nothing to the house, just was asking her to respect my things.
This hostile environment continues and her ex-man starts coming over.
One day, he just stops leaving, and before I know it, he’s got his Xbox set up, and he’s eating my food in the fridge. I didn’t mind him being there because it kept her away from me but was getting sick of the freeloading. One morning, I assumed I was alone in the house and was changing in my room when the house alarm went off at 6:30 am.
She was already gone for work, so I knew it was not her. I went out to see what was going on and her man was standing there in the living room, and I was nearly half-naked. I was so upset and embarrassed, so I texted her at work saying that he can’t live here rent-free and has to contribute. She responded with homophobic remarks about myself being a creep and setting up cameras in the house to watch her.
She also accused my friend, Ann, who is also a lesbian, of touching herself when they were talking. These things hurt me especially since I’m not completely out about my sexuality, and I do have a girl.
My friend Ann ended up moving out because of these comments and also the fact that she wanted to charge her $1,000 for a 8×6 room when the going rate is about $400-500.
Quite irritating when her man is living here for free.
I decided after this that I would only take my garbage out, shovel half of the driveway, etc. Over the Christmas holidays, I went home for a couple of days, and we got a really bad snowstorm. I got home, and her tire tracks and footprints were in the driveway but nothing shoveled (shocking). So I shoveled half the driveway and parked my car.
She came home from work and busted in on my shower screaming about how I’m psycho and petty. I just responded with, ‘Sorry, but you were here and didn’t do it, so I made myself a parking spot, and it’s cold of you to assume I would do the same for you.’ I got out of my shower, and she was in the kitchen throwing my food around getting aggressive.
So I called my mom and asked my roommate to stop, and I have witnesses. She proceeded to say I gaslight her and then went to her room.
We didn’t speak for 2 months until the other day I approached her about selling the house, and she responded with, “You’re an abusive narcissist, ugly freak who needs therapy.” I said I didn’t want a fight, and I just want to get this sold.
She’s definitely not going to be easy to work with getting this sorted.
My mental health is deteriorating every day I’m there. It’s interfering with my work. I broke down on Zoom in front of my boss. I have had to keep my 2 dogs at my parents’ house because I don’t trust her to be with them. I’m cracking more and more every day, and I just don’t know what to do.”
9. You Could've Just Told Me You Didn't Want To Move In With Me
“I originally signed a year lease with my landlord in August, but both my roommate’s belittling has caused me to move out this weekend.
One roommate lives in the basement, and the other directly across the hall from me.
I (22 F) have never gotten along with my roommates (23 F and 28 F). Ever since day one, the feelings toward them has never changed. I moved in thinking I would have privacy and free roam around the house, like using common areas, etc.
It started off with them accusing me of stealing/drinking their booze and other misc items around the house that would disappear and then reappear again. There are many people coming in and out of the house such as significant others (since my roommate’s brother also lives with us).
I have proposed the idea that someone outside of the house was taking their stuff, and they still blamed me for it.
When I first moved in, both complained about minor messes I had left in the kitchen, such as crumbs and water spills. They would take pictures of the mess and harass me over text message. They would tell me (multiple times) that I need to “be responsible for my actions.” Ever since then, I have always taken a second look at the kitchen before I go up to my bedroom.
No conflict since.. about this topic, anyways.
I would use common areas frequently, like the kitchen and the living room, since the living room contains my couches and my TV. When I had my man over every other weekend, that is when I generally used the living room. The roommate across the hall stated that “I use the living room too much,” and she feels like she can’t have her friends over.
I told her that she can have whoever she wants over and to let me know, so I make sure not to use the common area during that time.
There is no point in utilizing a living room if you can’t relax, right?
The issue with the roommate across the hall progressed as she brought my man into the argument, stating that “he is over too much” and that she doesn’t like him, isn’t respectful, etc.
She brought up the lease and told me that the lease states that “all tenants guests must be respectful.” She threatened to kick me off of the lease if I did not follow the lease.
For context, her parents are my landlords, so whatever reason, she feels entitled to say that.
I brought that up with my landlords immediately, and they stated that she has no right or power to say that.
Anyways, she told my landlords, aka, her parents, that I had my man over too much, which the lease states 6 days and nights/month when my roommate in the basement has her man over at least 5 days a week and stays over every weekend. She stated that she had signed a “different lease” than me and stated that the other roommate’s man is “respectful,” which I’m calling major BS on.
Her parents are really good friends with her man’s family, so there is a bit of favoritism I feel that is going on there.
I told the roommate across the hall not to talk to me because I am fed up and want personal space.
She called her parents and threw a fit, banging on tables, and yelling at the top of her lungs.
After a few months, it was Christmas, and I was on vacation in Oregon with my man.
I wasn’t at the house for at least 2 weeks, and when I come home, the floor is covered in debris.
I was really exhausted from my trip but summed up the energy to sweep and mop. A few days pass, and I was blamed for the house being a mess the previous week. This was my boiling point.
I am very a shy person who absolutely hates confrontation and conflict, but both of the women have tipped me off.
So, COVID-19 started spreading, and when the state issued a stay at home order, my roommate in the basement was still allowing her man to come over.
I messaged both roommates as both my roommate across the hall and myself are immunocompromised: me having asthma and the other having surgery about a month ago. The roommate downstairs stated that “we both don’t touch anything, and he is very respectful, and all we do is stay in my room.
He is still coming over no matter what.” That is when I retaliated and responded with something snarky like, “I’m telling the landlords.” I won that argument, and ever since then, she has been nothing but spiteful towards me.
At this point around April 15th, I got in a huge argument with the roommate across the hall. I was on FaceTime/Duo with my man. The time was around 10-11 p.m., and I was being very considerate as I knew they were asleep.
My roommate’s brother was eavesdropping on my conversation and woke his sister up. She told me I needed to be quiet and get off of the phone. I then told her no because they were stalking and listening in on my call.
I escalated, which it wasn’t right to, by calling her all of the names in the book. She stated that she was scared of me, to which at this point, I didn’t really care; anything for her to leave me alone.
I told her we need to get along/tolerate each other for the next month because that is when my lease is set to end. I felt very bad the next morning and apologized as I said some very mean things…but it did feel good to get 6 months of suffering off of my chest.
A month goes by, and I haven’t talked to either of my roommates.
I’ve kept to myself and haven’t really been using the common areas, to avoid them at all costs.
This week, I have started to move all of my stuff out of my bedroom since I am moving on Saturday. My roommate hasn’t used the garage to park her car in about a month, so I thought it was alright to use part of the space to place my furniture.
Well, she freaked out on me and told me I need to move my stuff. I told her no because there is no other space to put my stuff for the time being, and it’s only 2 days away before everything is out of the house.
She asked me why I couldn’t keep my stuff in my room until Saturday. I responded that “I don’t want to be here any longer and see you doing that ever again, and I want to leave and get everything out ASAP.” She said that she needed the space to park her car in case it hails.
Upon checking the forecast, there is no rain or hail on the radar for the next week. She then stated that she was going to throw my stuff out in the yard if I didn’t move it.
I ended up moving it to another location in the garage and then contacted my landlord about it. He said that he couldn’t believe how uncivil the living situation has gotten and that he will be in contact with both roommates to be accomodating.
I’m just seriously done with all of the drama here.
I feel like I’m in high school all over again. I always hated coming home knowing I have to deal with these jerks every day. I’m not comfortable living here and have been confined to my room for the past few months. I’ve recently been laid off, so it makes the situation even worse.”
8. Refusing To Lock The Door
“So, this was a few years ago during my freshman year in college. I had worked hard in high school to save up enough cash to buy two TVs, a PS4, speakers, kitchen utensils and plates, a futon, and a few other smaller items.
The college I went to had suite-style living where each roommate got his own individual room. There were four of us, so we had four rooms: two bathrooms, a small kitchen, and a great room/main room.
Since I was the first one who moved in, I got unpacked and settled in, making sure to leave plenty of room for everyone to unpack and claim space in the bathrooms and other common areas.
I set up one TV (the larger one) in the great room with my PS4, so we could all enjoy it, and I put all my utensils and plates in the kitchen, so we could use those as well.
I didn’t mind sharing my stuff up to this point since I liked to share and put my faith in others.
However, I wouldn’t be posting here if this trusting nature of mine wasn’t changed…
Onto the story.
One night, a drunk college kid came barging into our room screaming to the top of his lungs, waking me up. I was about to get out of bed until one roommate, the slob of the group, ran out and kicked him to the hallway.
Since I left a lot of expensive items in the great room for us to use, this made me fear anyone could walk in and steal my stuff, and that would be the last I would’ve seen of them. So, I asked my roommates to lock the door if no one else was home, and we agreed on it.
It worked for a few days until I noticed I walked in, and no one was home, but the door wasn’t locked.
Granted, they would go to a few friend’s dorms across the hall, but they had gone out for almost 5 hours. I asked them again, but they blew me off. A one to three vote doesn’t work too well at the college I attended as far as roommate agreements went, so there was nothing I could do. Anyway, there were three more instances of dumb, young freshmen walking into our dorm and either yelling or passing out on our couch with just the TV on and nothing on it.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was when I noticed my dishes I was sharing were in the trash along with some stainless steel utensils. As I looked around, I also saw one of the four controllers I had was smashed and under the couch, and my remote was totally lost (never knew what happened to it after all these years).
I finally asked them once more to lock the door and to try to respect my things I shared with them, but they blew me off and said, “It’s not like you use them.
It’s basically ours anyway.”
With this, I got petty, and I mean petty.
I started my revenge when they went off to get beer since they wanted to play a new Call of Duty game (can’t remember which title). I first started with moving my TV and PS4 into my room, along with everything else I had out there, as well as my futon, which we used as a second couch.
It took me about thirty minutes of hard labor, but I finally had a packed dorm room, but man, it looked awesome!
But that’s my petty part; time for revenge.
After another 20 minutes, they returned with a whole group, and they were stoked to play the new CoD, until they noticed the entire great room empty, except for the couch and tv stand. I decided to leave before they got back, but I was receiving calls and texts for almost an hour asking where I was and where all the stuff went.
I decided to keep quiet and allow them to embarrass themselves in front of their friends. Not only that, but they confronted me on a few occasions to get me to surrender my items or else they’d have to pay for new ones out of pocket. (None of them worked and sponged off all the snacks I bought for myself, which were now safe under my bed.)
I merely said, “Oh, sorry, but they are now LOCKED behind my room since that’s the only door that is locked in this whole place.
I told you I won’t share if it isn’t behind a locked room, but now it is.”
They were very unhappy and spent way more than I did on my items since I got my stuff from back to school sales and used work discounts to buy my items. I probably paid nearly $1,400 on everything I bought, and they paid nearly $2,100 to get back everything I had shared, and they had to split it all up at the end of the school year.
I know one thing for certain; it is fun to see three guys fight over a PS4 and a large TV since they all chipped in to pay for them.”
Another User Comments:
“I had roommates that absolutely refused to lock the door. It literally takes an extra 2 seconds to lock a door to protect all of your valuables. Some people are just lazy and inconsiderate as hell, and you can’t really do anything about it.” suaveysuavey
7. They Had No Problem Disrupting My Study Sessions
“This is another petty story about my two-year roommate during my time living on campus during college.
A little backstory for this one: When we first started rooming together, NJ had an addition to both WoW and Runescape. While the games, themselves, are not important for the story, his underlying addiction to games is important.
One character trait of NJ which I could never understand was how he preferred to study – not just complete his homework: study in loud environments.
While I understand some people prefer this, I believe it is an important aspect of cohabitation to recognize and respect different lifestyles.
One Wednesday night, I chose to settle in and study in my room as our libraries were consistently too noisy, even in the designated quiet areas. NJ was well-aware of this as I had voiced these complaints before. He, consistent with his nature, chose to go out drinking on that Wednesday night.
Rather than going elsewhere to pregame, he chose to invite some girls over to drink in our room before going out. “Don’t worry, we’re just meeting here then we’re going over to so-and-so’s place before the bars,” NJ said.
They come over in full, already-tipsy force, loud as can be, talking about what one of them saw on Facebook or who was in the library or whatever.
Half an hour passes, and NJ says they’re waiting for two more people.
An hour goes by; NJ says that they’re still waiting but that he will bring them elsewhere, so I can study. An hour and a half now, they’re still there, so I grab my things and go to the library to study, despite its distracting noise levels. I had a terribly difficult night of studying.
He never apologized for the distraction the next day.
The next test for which NJ needed to study, he chose to procrastinate until the morning of the day before the test. Knowing I had a prescription but having never tried it himself, he asked me if I thought Adderall would help him focus and if he could buy one of mine to help him cram. ”Ha!” I thought.
“You want ME to help YOU study now?” So, I think about it for a moment, then I insisted that he just have one, no payment required.
I checked the time and made sure to watch him take it, and then I left. I came back forty-five minutes later, knowing he would start feeling the effects soon. Keeping in mind that he was easily hooked on video games and, knowing that he had never played it (learned in an unrelated conversation a while ago, though I was quite surprised he never had), I introduced him to Bejeweled. He was hooked.
I left, came back ten hours later to find him happy as a clam, still playing Bejeweled, and none of his study materials moved at all.
I smiled and cracked open a beer. His test did not go well.”
6. Just Get Your Stuff Together, Loser
Like, grow up, man.
“I had a friend who I met in college who claimed they had a very bad relationship with their parents. so I always told them if they ever wanted to move to my city, we could live together. A lot of people in my course hated them because he kneed a guy with a disability in the back thinking it was funny; I don’t think they ever apologized even once they found out he couldn’t move for like 2 weeks.
I for some reason was super oblivious to the red flag, and some kinda savior complex kicked in.
4 years later and after getting kicked out by roommates from two other places (and wondering why), he finally saves up enough to move in — he AND his big dog, which was almost a year old. At the time, I was in a one-bedroom, so I was expecting him to bring down a mattress or buy one.
He didn’t have funds at the time, so I told him it was cool to crash on the couch until he could find one. The first two weeks were cool. I was working a full-time job, so I would come home, and he’d have my little bit of dishes done or cleaned up. At first, when he moved in, we thought it would be a good idea to split on groceries, but that idea went south so fast when I would come home, and there would be no milk or food left for me.
When I told him I didn’t want to split groceries, he got super defensive about it and tried to argue with me about it. That’s what he does when you try to point out something: he gets defensive.
After he started working was when it got back. He would start making dish piles with food still left on the plate, and the only way he’d do them is if I asked him to.
It got so bad that we got roaches and fruit flies. Where I was more concerned about the roach infestation, he could care less and was more stressed about accidentally eating a fruit fly. Once again, I’ve been asking this guy over and over for 2 YEARS to do his dishes; I sound like a broken record. I’ll admit there are times I let some dishes pile up, but I will rinse all the food or residue off of it, so when I return, it’s easy to clean and should attract bugs.
This guy, though, I can count on two or more hands I’ve opened up his rice cooker, and the rice inside is greeeeeeeen. I just want to make a note that he’s had a tower pile of dirty dishes for about a month and a half now, and I have told him to do them. What makes matters the most worse is all the pots/pans and cutlery are mine, and if I want to cook anything, I have to wash his dishes.
I was cool with having a dog around until I saw how poorly trained and taken care of this dog is.
I understand he was young, but he still knew how to do things. If you held a treat in your hand, this dog could sit, heel, center, play dead — some more advanced stuff. If you try to tell them to sit without a treat, good luck, or maybe they’ll sit for 1.5 seconds until you turn around, and it immediately got back up. This dog was so food hungry that you couldn’t eat around it; it would be up in your business trying to take it from you.
(I’ve straight up had a whole chicken wrap stolen.)
This dog was super high energy and living in a one-bedroom apartment which I had no issue with. My issue was the amount of time my roommate would spend being active with him. There are mornings he’ll wake up for work after spending 10 hours sleeping to take the dog out for 5 minutes to pee and then be in a crate for the next 7-9 hours and then MAYBE get a decent walk in.
There are times he’ll wake up late and put the pressure on me to take his dog out, whether I’m home or not it’s not my responsibility to take care of the poor dog, and because I don’t want the dog to suffer, of course I’ll take it out. I feel like my roommate tries to compensate how much his dog actually gets neglected by buying it a bunch of stupid stuff off Amazon when he doesn’t have the money for it.
I had a big talk about the dog before and straight up told him to train him or I’d move out. At this point, I’ve seen this dog jump on my friends when they enter the apartment (I don’t invite people over anymore). When the dog would jump up on people, my roommate would sit, stare, and let it happen; when confronted, he blamed other people ’cause they LET the dog jump on them, forgive all these strangers meeting your dog for the first time not understanding they have to turn 180 degrees in hopes the dog gets off them.
For the two weeks after hearing him actually make time to train the dog, he got lazy and stopped. Now when I’m on my PC talking to friends and doing whatever, whenever he is in the vicinity with his dog, all you hear is, “Sit, place, go place, louder GO PLACE,” and it’s freaking annoying for everyone. Like, go actually take your dog out rather than make it lie down for another 4 hours after a 10-minute walk.
We moved into a 2 bedroom after six months, and I have never regretted something so much in my life.
After six months of him sleeping on my couch, it had to go. You could see the sweat marks, and it was just so gross, so I told him it wasn’t coming in the move while finally forced him to get a mattress (his dog ate the corner off of it). While moving, I had my friends and family helping and they were moving some of his bigger things too.
All while me and my friends were taking care of his big things (one of which is an aquarium stand with a million books still in the cupboards below, freaking heavy), he of course was taking the smaller lighter things. Living in a two-bedroom felt good for a while; I had more space and privacy, but then he would just keep doing stuff that ticked me off to the point where now I basically ignore him.
I’ve been staring at a pile of mostly my dishes for over a month now, and whenever I walk in the kitchen, all I see is roaches running all over the place. We’ve had exterminators come in at least 15 times to keep placing traps down when it’s freaking obvious there are bugs, and I feel like if my roommate was just competent enough to do his dishes, we wouldn’t have this problem.
I move to a place by myself in a month, and it’s going to be peaceful.”
5. Stealing Hundreds Of Dollars Worth Of My Food
Erm, buy your own?
“A bit of back story. I’m a twenty-four-year-old female and she’s twenty-three. We’ll call her Estelle because that was her name, and eff her.
We lived together for two years. I wouldn’t say we were friends really, but we had a few laughs, and she was ok.
Anyway, Estelle found a new house she wanted to move into. It was closer to the Melbourne CBD than our flat.
(Our flat is about 7.5 miles away.) She was entirely entitled to leave, and I didn’t mind really.
I’d just get a new roomie.
So, a few weeks later, Estelle was packed and good to go. On this particular day, she was an hour away from leaving to go to her new house or so she said. We said our relatively awkward but sweet goodbyes, and then I left to go to the shops.
I assumed by the time I got back she’d be gone. I spent more than an hour getting heaps of crap now that my flat was just mine. I also got a TON of food.
Anyway, I got back, and Estelle was still there. I didn’t care; although, it was awkward because we’d said goodbye, and I thought she’d be gone.
I unpacked all the food and put it away and then took a shower.
She told me when I got out, she’d be gone.
When I got out Estelle was, indeed, gone. I went to go make a hot drink and realized the tea bags were out. After I realized I’d bought new ones, I went to hunt them down. All the cupboards were completely empty though.
Oh my God. That freak took all my food that I bought with my money.
And I mean all my food, not just the new stuff. All of it.
I knew Estelle’s new house had to be on our computer’s history; that was where she found it. After rummaging through it for close to fifteen minutes, I found the address to her new house. I got dressed and headed off to it.
When I arrived, her car was there. Screw it. I’d wait it out.
I hid behind a tree, and I knew it was a huge risk; she could easily not leave all night.
And after an hour, I knew that would be the case. I sadly began to crawl away from my hiding place, but then I heard something. The shower was on! Estelle was having a shower! I had been crouching under the bathroom window, so I could hear it.
When I was certain she wasn’t getting out or whatever, I tried the front door. It was unlocked, and I was thrilled.
The house was a lot nicer than my flat. I was jealous and also mad because she stole my food, and who the hell steals food?
I was wearing a skirt, and I took off my underwear.
I proceeded to run around the house with them in my hand trying to find somewhere to pee.
It was the only form of revenge I could think of, okay?
So, I elected for her bedroom. Basically, nothing was unpacked, but the carpet was a beautiful, creamy white color. I peed all over it while laughing shamelessly to myself. I hadn’t peed in forever, so I literally was able to then walk around, my underwear in hand, peeing all over the carpet. It felt good.
I finished, put my underwear back on, stole my teabags back, and drove home.
Forget Estelle. I spent like two hundred dollars on all that food.”
4. Quit Using My Bathroom To Do Your Stinky Business
“I share a house with 2 other roomies.
I pay extra to have a private bathroom downstairs, but it’s in the hallway and not attached to my bedroom.
The other 2 roomies share the upstairs bathroom. When I first moved in, I thought the toilet was leaking sewer gas fumes because I would randomly smell poop throughout the day even though I hadn’t pooped recently. I even called the landlord after watching YouTube videos about bad toilet smells, and he thought I was crazy, lol.
I finally caught on to what was happening because I think she’s been using it even more than when she first started, so I’ve walked out to her leaving a few times and smelling the EXACT smell I’ve been concerned about!
I’m assuming she doesn’t want to poo in the upstairs bathroom because it’s right by the other roomie’s bedroom door, but does that make it ok to come use mine every single time? I wanted to take a shower today before a doctor’s appointment but walked out of my room to an overwhelming poop smell and the bathroom occupied, so I didn’t have time to shower.
I know if I was sharing a bathroom (which I always have until now), it would just be something I’d have to get over and deal with, but I pay so much more money specifically, so I don’t have to worry about other people taking dumps when I need to shower! I don’t mind them using my bathroom during emergencies when theirs is occupied (I have IBS, so I’m not poop shaming by any means), but it’s every single day, every dump, multiple times a day, and 99% of the time, the upstairs bathroom is open.
So, I know she’s just using mine because it’s a bit more private.
I also prefer my own bathroom so that I, myself, can take poops whenever I want and not worry about lighting a match or keeping everything pristine.
(I still keep it super clean and tidy, but I may not replace the roll right away if it’s just me, and I may not double-check every time for any skid marks, etc…haha.)
Not to mention, my toilet paper was running out really quickly, and I was so confused! The two that share a bathroom split the cost of their tp and hand soap, and I’m not gonna be petty and ask for her to chip in because I am in a position where I can definitely afford to buy extra, but it’s the principle of it.
I’m mostly venting because I know I need to talk to her, but also want to make sure I’m not being overly annoyed by this. She’s also really sensitive (as am I, so again, no judgment), and she’s cried in the past when confronted in a friendly manner about much smaller things, so I’m dreading the conversation… Lord, help me.”
3. He Ruined A Job Interview For Me
“I have been job searching ferociously for a long time now. I am in a dead-end factory job that doesn’t pay very much, doesn’t require any college, and overall is not a good fit for me. I have been at this job for a little over a year now and only took it because I was desperate for a job and didn’t have any other job offers at the time.
Even before that job when I had a previous job that wasn’t nearly as bad as this one, I was job searching for something that actually had the opportunity for growth and pay raises. I’ve made it my second job (third if you count the factory job making me do so much mandatory overtime) to job search for the entire time I’ve been at this stupid factory.
Anyway, I had a job interview for a direct-hire through a job agency that I’ve been going through. The problem is, the interview was an in-person interview at one of their other branch locations in an area where mass transit does not go, and my car has not been reliable. It’s had a lot of issues lately with the battery and now the starter, and I’m trying to get a major repair on it very soon.
Fortunately, I had a neighbor about 4 houses down who was offering me car services for a very reasonable cost and had done good work on my car before (he was a mechanic at one time in the past). Let’s call his “Tom.”
Tom seemed like a nice elder guy who is retired. A few of my female former neighbors made a comment once about a year ago that they thought Tom looked creepy, but they didn’t actually know Tom, only saw Tom always standing on his porch looking out at everything, and I’ve learned to not judge a book by its cover.
Tom seemed polite and nice enough to me. We had a good rapport with me paying him cash to do small car repairs and maintenance checks on a pretty regular basis. I hadn’t needed to get anything done on my car in recent weeks, but Tom had told me before that if I ever needed work done, that I could call him and he’d charge me the same amount he’d charged me before, which was very reasonable and much less than if I took it to a shop.
Tom, his partner, and his twin granddaughters (who he and his partner are raising; I have the utmost respect for them doing this, as opposed to letting these little girls end up in foster care the way an ex-partner of mine did when his own relatives wouldn’t take him in after his mom died) have lived on my street for as long as I’ve lived here (6 years) and longer. Before this neighbor worked on my car, I had bartered for my roommate (yes, the deadbeat non-paying roommate who I’m currently in the process of evicting in court) to do the car maintenance and small repairs but he then claimed he was no longer available because he was getting a job (which only lasted for 3 days), so he’s actually the one who referred me to Tom, who then spoke with me about the car stuff and agreed to do the work on my car.
Tom appreciated the money he made from me because, according to my roommate, Tom and his lady have been struggling recently while he’s on fixed retirement, and his woman is working a post-retirement job to support their household.
I had an interview on Friday morning, yesterday. On Thursday early evening, I came home from work (on my occasional day shift that I’m lucky enough to switch for), and my deadbeat roommate Joe was hanging out with Tom, along with some younger Eminem-looking friend of Joe’s who is rumored to be a drug user, and the three of them were drinking beers together on Tom’s porch! Like, a lot of beers. Empty beer cans were all along the railing of Tom’s porch. Tom isn’t even really a drinker to my knowledge. Tom hangs out on his porch frequently, but I’ve NEVER seen him drinking or leaving beer cans out.
Joe, his friend (we’ll call him Eminem for now?), and Tom were having a good ol’ time, oblivious or uncaring to my annoyance as I walked near to see what was going on. Later that evening, I get some creepy pervy texts from Tom. I’ll admit this wasn’t the first time. Less than a week ago, he had sent me a text that was very obviously for his lady.
I was shocked but figured it was sent by accident. A minute or so later, he sent an apology text explaining that it was sent by accident. I never responded back in any way because I was embarrassed and felt awkward by it. I actually silently told myself to give the benefit of the doubt, since it was very possibly an honest mistake, and to actually feel happy for him that he still has a spicy romantic life with his woman even after all these decades, since people tell me I need to start being a better person and feeling happy for others.
Well, now I see the thanks I get for trying to be a better person.
Last night after Tom was done drinking with my roommate Joe and Eminem, he sent me a few texts, asking if I had any single sexy friends and saying things he wanted to do to my friends, and he’d like to watch me do stuff with my female friends! This time it was obvious the texts were NOT for his lady but me. I politely texted him back to please not text me like this and that he has a loving woman that he is betraying by sending this.
(I really, really despise adultery and attempts at adultery; plus, his partner is a nice lady who’s been through a lot. He responded that his lady won’t get it on with him and then he claimed she actually told him to go get a side piece! What on Earth?! So, I told him again firmly to never text me again and ceased all contact with Tom.
I decided then and there to never ask him to do work on my car ever again. He did text an hour or so after I ceased contact to apologize and say he was drunk earlier and doesn’t normally drink, but that despite this, he’s still interested in any friends of mine.
The next morning, I was getting ready for the interview, but my car would NOT start — same battery problem as before.
This has happened a few times before when I had to go to work, and Tom was always available to help me get my car started for a very cheap price. But I felt I couldn’t ask Tom for help after what had happened. When I told my best friend about this, she had agreed that I should never talk to this man ever again after how he crudely disrespected both me and his lady and technically any hypothetical friends of mine too by extension.
So I was trapped with no way to get to the interview. I felt I shouldn’t ask my roommate Joe anyway since we are on non-speaking terms. Plus, Joe was not home anyway. I couldn’t afford an Uber or cab when I’m now stuck waiting and paying to have my car towed to a shop to get worked on for full cost, and there wouldn’t be enough time to get there if I had to wait for a cab anyway. There were no friends available to help me because they were either at work, work from home, or don’t have cars. I was stuck canceling out my interview.
At first, I tried to call to explain and cancel the interview, but the only number I had was to the main building for the branch where the interview was being held at, and no one answered, because it was during what’s typically off-hours for them. I had no phone number for the manager doing the interview, only an email address. I emailed her a contrite apology, explained that I had car problems, even asking if a Zoom interview was an option.
She didn’t get back to me until apparently late last night, at which point she simply wrote back, “I had people come in from working from home for this interview.” A rather passive-aggressive response that shows that I burned my bridge and lost my chance. I found that email from her when I woke up this morning.
Great! So because of my already deadbeat roommate Joe getting this elder neighbor Tom drunk, and Tom handling his beer terribly by being a perv to me, I’M the one on the loser end, having to miss my interview and a possible chance to get out of the hellish dead-end job I have! I am so angry. Do I have a right to be angry about this? I also feel like this is part Joe’s fault. I also wonder what stuff he told Tom about me for Tom to text me afterward like that. I feel like I will NEVER get another job!”
2. A Sociopath Of A Roommate
“I‘ve been living with a potential sociopath for almost three years.
We met in college, and I needed a new living situation. He was looking for a roommate since his old one didn’t work out and that was when I got my first red flag. Note to people looking to move in with a stranger: if they have only negative things to say about every previous roommate and everything was always everyone else’s fault…
they might actually be to blame here. He told me that he was a very clean and quiet person just looking for someone else that was clean and respectful but that somehow he had always ended up having falling outs with previous friends and roommates. I was willing to try anything because I couldn’t afford a dorm and so I figured I would look past this.
Big mistake, by the way. We moved into a place a month or so later.
Immediately things were off to a bad start. For the next three years, he would refuse to clean up after himself ever. Piles of dirty dishes, filthy bathroom, rotting food, piles of dirty laundry in the living room, all the typical bad roommate stuff. I could be messy too, though. We were both in college, and I had a part-time job; it wasn’t that big of a deal to me.
He would tell me that he preferred to buy his own supplies like toilet paper, dish soap, etc., but then he would conveniently forget to buy them and ask to borrow mine. I discovered that he was stealing my food too. Just small things missing like chips or sips of wine from the bottle. I asked him once if he had taken a shot or 2 of my Jack Daniels since the bottle was a lot more empty than the last time I had any.
He told me that he saw how I tended to go a little crazy when I was drinking. and I must have lost track of how much I had. I found out later that’s called gaslighting, by the way.
So yeah, general bad roommate stuff. But everything changed when he had guests over. This guy LOVED parties. Dinner parties, game night parties, any excuse to surround himself with people he thought were of good social standing.
And it was like a different person. All of a sudden, this gross bedroom goblin that had been wearing the same pajamas for 3 days straight was clean-shaven, wearing his most expensive clothes, expensive cologne, a $60 bottle of bourbon would be blocking the mostly empty Jack Daniels on the shelf. Really, he went hard for this image. The house would be startlingly spotless too. He would go on these frenzies the day before making sure everything was perfect.
And the night that people would be over, he was something to see. SO charming. I can’t stress this enough: people adored this guy. I was the only one to ever see him at less than 100% perfection. And it was during one of these dinner party nights when I was studying in my room that I overheard him feeding some guy the same line he told me a year before.
That he couldn’t stand how messy his roommate was. That he was so clean and meticulous. That he couldn’t figure out why this always happened to him. This is when I started paying more attention.
I‘ll note here that for people wondering why I never found another roommate, I live in a pretty expensive college town, and I was lucky enough to find an affordable spot that wasn’t in a dangerous neighborhood.
I’m also very much an introvert and I weighed the decision of whether or not it would be best to stick with what I had or if I should risk it with another stranger. Also at the same time, I was questioning if maybe I was the bad roommate here. He did a great job of making me feel like I was problematic, and any discussion we had somehow always ended with me being at fault.
If I was upset that he was stealing food, he would say I was a paranoid and exhausting person who everyone had a hard time being friends with because I had trust issues. If I was upset the house was dirty, well it was my fault in the first place because he would say he never left a mess behind despite the physical proof. His tactics involved these slow measured speaking patterns that were designed to make me feel like I was being violent or aggressive, so I would back down.
He would make himself taller and bigger during our discussions, so I felt like a child who had done something wrong. He was very good at sounding like a victim, and I had been convinced I was an aggressive person and that he did me a favor by allowing me to live with him.
As I watched things develop, I noticed how my few friends started gravitating towards him.
All of a sudden, he was inviting my best friend on camping trips and bar nights without me, and I discovered that my small group of friends were spending more time with him and asking to come over for his parties, instead of my regular Netflix binges. He would mention to me offhandedly how he would be away with a college friend of mine for a weekend trip and ask to borrow something or other.
I’ll never know for sure, but it always felt like he was trying to gauge a reaction out of me. It all came to a head one night when my best friend at the time canceled plans to go out with me because she was tired and then I saw her post later that night while she was out with my roommate at the bar we were originally planning on going to.
For the record, I know now that this was not the fault of my roommate. My friends made conscious decisions to not reach out to me, and I had retreated into myself really badly by then. I was the most depressed I had ever been, and it was easier to just cut everyone out.
About a year later, I graduated college, and things started to look up.
I had a better job, a therapist, and a new relationship and friends. I also got a cat. But things were still tough on the home front. My roommate was drinking a lot; I would find him passed out on the floor. He broke a bookshelf once after he drank through a bottle of wine. Once the pandemic hit, it was worse. He would steal food, hide his own in the highest cupboards of the counters behind boxes and put passive-aggressive notes on the door “reminding” me that it was his property.
He was so obsessed with someone taking something of his that he started keeping everything locked in his room and wouldn’t come out most of the day. For the record, I never once took something of his. He admitted to me once that he peed in one of the soup bowls just because he felt like it. He refused to admit which one it was though, so I stopped using all of them.
The worst night I can recall right now was during the pandemic.
I came home, and he was just sitting on the floor. I’ll never forget the chill I got when he looked me dead in the eyes and finally admitted to me that he couldn’t feel empathy, that he didn’t feel anything for anyone in the world.
The most recent and troubling thing I’m noticing is how he treats my cat. He never liked the fact that I picked out this cat without him.
I asked permission from him and the landlord, and we both agreed that the cat would be my responsibility, so when I saw a photo of this old cat at the shelter, I just went. It caused this huge fight because he said he wanted a choice in what the cat would look like. I guess a shaved old cat with a skin condition didn’t fit the image he was going for.
So he pretended my cat didn’t exist for a long time. This changed after he got a new partner. This girl he was seeing was a big cat lover and so he started spending a lot of time with my cat too. It would have been fine, except he isn’t gentle with him. My cat is 15 years old, he has arthritis in his hips, and a glandular issue.
Seriously, he looks like a dusty puppet without the strings. My roommate who never even touched the cat before just swings him around the room, smacks his hips, grabs his face, and shakes him back and forth. I always tell him to be more gentle, but he just laughs me off. So I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping him in my room where my roommate can’t touch him.
The way he acts like he adores this cat for the sake of his partner just creeps me out, like an alien pretending to use human emotions without any of the actual love for an animal.
After three years, I’m moving out in 2 weeks into a new apartment with my partner and my cat. I plan on blocking my roommate on all social media and moving on.
I learned a lot from this: who my friends are, where my boundaries lie, who I am. I also learned a lot about this person who made my life hell for 3 years. In a way, I’m scared of him, but I also pity him. I’ll never forget how empty he looked when he told me that he didn’t feel anything for anybody; I hope he gets some help.
There are plenty of other experiences I can think of but this is already a miniature novel. I’m sorry for the length, really. I cut it down as best I could.
If anyone out there has dealt with a roommate, friend, or family member that has made you feel isolated, manipulated, or unsafe, you aren’t alone. Find a community outside this individual, and surround yourself with people who will believe your experiences.
You aren’t crazy; you aren’t being irrational. Set those boundaries for yourself. I’m so glad to be nearing the end of this stupid journey.”
Another User Comments:
“Sounds like my old roommate that we kicked out.
He would “sing” karaoke every morning. (Basically, it was just him screaming along to songs at the top of his lungs while we were trying to sleep.) He would touch himself in the living room; listen outside our door when we were getting intimate; and blow his nose in tissues and leave them all over, on the floor, the table, etc.
He’d steal food, his cat was always sick, and peed on the floor.
She ended up having fleas so bad, the poor thing, a guest called animal control on him, and unfortunately, the cat was put back in his care.
He constantly lied to everyone that we were the ones making messes when it wasn’t us, spent our rent money on other things, with resulted in us receiving several eviction notices and utilities being shut off. The landlord actually took us off the lease and put us on month-to-month payments because of this.
(After we kicked him out, she asked us what happened and said, “You guys used to miss payments all the time, and now you’re perfect, even with covid going on; I don’t get it.” We told her what had happened, with the other roommate, and she was angry at him.)
One time, the lights were turned off, and instead of telling us when he knew about it, he waited until the day they were turned off then left for his grandparents for like 2 weeks, didn’t bring his cat, and didn’t try to actively find a solution.
We got them turned back on that day for $800 because he had been several months behind. We didn’t bother telling him because we were enjoying him not being there.
I had a friend come over, and it was a woman. He then cleaned the entire house AND bought himself a brand new set of sheets for his bed and made a show of letting my friend who he had only met the night before know about it and kept trying to get her alone with him.
Those are basically the major things he did. I’m so glad he’s gone.” Reddit user
1. A Straight Up Slob
They’re never fun to live with.
“I never should’ve given her the landlord’s info after showing her the room, but I was rushing to find someone because last time we let the landlord choose someone, we got bike thief druggies, and a friend spoke well of her as a person.
The first problem was her smoking. I’ve lived with smokers before who are considerate about it, and they’re fine.
I kept coming home to or waking up coughing to the house filled with smoke.
I would step outside to find her sitting facing doors or windows and smoking with a pile of already smoked cigs next to her. I told her it was all coming into the house, and she seemed shocked. I told her, “Hey, it’s not your fault the house is a drafty piece of crap, but it is.
You need to smoke further away.” She said okay.
A couple of hours later, I stepped out to find her lighting up while plopped down in the exact same spot.
I stared at her and said, “Didn’t we literally just talk about this?” She made another shocked face and told me, “Oh, did you mean I should stop like right now? Oh my God, can you actually smell it? I’m so embarrassed.” Multiple times throughout the day and night the house would get filled with smoke, and I’d step outside to find her doing the same thing.
She’d grab her phone and waddle away. Or if I said something before she could, she’d look at with a lit cig in her hand and say, “I’m not even smoking out here!”
Then her solution changed to trying to hide it.
She’d burn so many scented candles and incense sticks, you couldn’t breathe. I told her it didn’t cover that she was smoking right next to the house anyway, and it was making me horribly sick.
Eventually, I gave up and contacted the landlord. He never responds to messages, but he actually got back to me and was so annoyed, he said he’d be calling her immediately and telling her to stay at least 20 feet from the property when smoking.
Dishes. Oh my God, the dishes.
When she was moving in, she said she had a lot of kitchen gadgets and such. I told her, “Hey, you do you.
I do some baking but nothing crazy, so there’s lots of room in the kitchen, so feel free to find a space for your stuff.” The walls, tables, and drawers are filled with stuff. She owns multiples, and I seriously think it’s because of her refusing to clean.
She uses little tin sauce cups like you’d get in a restaurant, and multiple times, there’d be a pile of them building in the sink.
I decided to just wash them myself once, and when I went to grab them, my finger sunk into old, moldy sauce. She had never even rinsed them a little, so they were all just flipped over in the sink but filled with rotten food.
Around Thanksgiving, she made something with a big slow cooker thing. I went away for a couple of weeks and came back to it still on our little counter.
I had decided I wasn’t cleaning any more of her garbage, so I left it.
It sat there for nearly a month. It started to smell, and when I looked inside, it was full of juices and grease and bones with grayish fuzzy chunks of mold growing on the inside.
I texted her and asked, “Can you please clean your slow cooker ASAP?” and told her about the mold.
She came out of her room and huffed and puffed and slammed things around while cleaning it in a tantrum.
Wino. I have a drink at home once in a while too.
But she gets stupid sloppy wine drunk. A friend of hers moved into a vacant room, and they’ll down a bottle of cheap wine each and be disasters all night. Have yelling conversations on speakerphone, dropping and breaking things, stumbling and falling all over the place until like 3 am.
She thinks she’s helpful. A few times after she first moved in, I would get text messages from her telling me she had swept.
And saying it like it was a huge favor.
I would say thanks or not respond ’cause sweeping is just kind of what you’re supposed to do? But she half-arsed to a level I haven’t seen before. She would sweep up little piles and leave them on the floor.
Or one giant pile, and it would be underneath a towel or hidden in a corner. And she seemed to just drop the broom on the floor when she was ‘done.’ Like she got raptured mid chore. I asked her once to put the broom back where it goes when she’s done (in a nook connected to the kitchen where we put cleaning supplies).
She stared at me incredulously with her mouth hanging open and sighed heavily then said, “You mean like EVERY TIME?!” I replied “Um..
Yes? Like when you’re done using something, put it back where it goes?” She looked from the broom, to the nook, and to me before sighing dramatically again and saying, “Well I mean.. I guess I can TRY.” She did not try.
Literal crap. I constantly have to clean the toilet before I can use it. I think she doesn’t know how to uhhh align herself on the toilet? She leaves crap scrapes on the toilet, and once, drops of liquid poop and period blood on the floor.
And no one’s poop doesn’t stink, but that bathroom is a health hazard when she gets done with it.
If I liked her, I’d genuinely be concerned about her health for how bad it is. Her habit is to drink a bunch of wine, drink a bunch of coffee, smoke a bunch of cigarettes, then explode in the bathroom, and it lingers for like an hour. I’ve bought odor eater sprays and left them on the bathroom counter as a hint, but I don’t think she’s ever used it.
Quarantine. You’d think a smoker with probably damaged lungs would be extra worried about what could happen if someone brought COVID into the house.
No. As soon as her hours got cut, she started having a weird, dingy dude basically living in the house for 2-3 days each week. The first time I saw him, I genuinely thought a homeless man had broken in. Just dirty, smelly layers upon layers of clothing with knotted, dirty hair.
After the landlord told her the smoking near the house had to stop, her attitude cranked up to 11. She was already a stupid slob, but now she’s an angry stupid slob.
She started telling lies about me to her friend who had moved in, who would then come to me and ask me about it.
I tell her, “No, not true” and told her about my email to the landlord and how she interestingly started spreading stuff right when that happened.
The friend shrugged and said, “Yeah, I know what she’s like” and seems like a play both sides type. We had one of those conversations last night, and I woke up to my makeup bottles emptied onto my shower towels and my hair products all tossed on the floor.
I wish moving was an easier option right now. With COVID, my job future is unclear, and I live close to my work, so it has been a blessing that I don’t have to use public transportation to get there.
Even with my usual hours, I couldn’t really afford anything else in the area.
I got stupid lucky to find this place when I did. And I just spent thousands of dollars on surgery less than a month ago. I wish I could believe she’d move out, but if she’s too lazy to put away a broom, I don’t have much faith she’s going to find a new place to make a sty.
I wish I knew how her previous victims had gotten her to leave.”
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