Welcome back collegiettes™! So far we’ve covered roommate woes from embarrassing mom texts to dealing with ant infestations. I’m sorry to report that, while this next tale leaves out critters, it highlights an all new aura of awkwardness. If you don’t recall from last week, my roommate (from the dorms) and I were planning on moving into a house down below campus the summer after my sophomore year.
So, you might be asking, “What could go wrong this time?” I was moving into an adorable house, I was still close to campus, and I had a fun roommate coming with. Well, a lot could go wrong, and a lot did go wrong! For starters, I moved out before my roommate did – like two weeks before her. I thought this would be fine until I realized I moved into a mini sorority. Mini, because I was joining only four girls. Sorority, because these four girls were so close they might as well have been sisters, and there was definitely a hint of exclusiveness in the air.
This is a story for anyone who has ever felt like an awkward third, or in this case, fifth wheel. I don’t have a solution – I just feel your pain. Enjoy.
We’ve all heard the saying “opposites attract,” right? Well, I’ve grown to have some very strong feelings about that cliché. Unless you’re my fifth grade teacher and you’re talking about magnets, I don’t want to hear it! Opposite roommates do not attract. If you put four people together in a house who share the same taste in food, T.V., clothes, faith, and lifestyle – you will have harmony. You throw in one odd-ball who is different in every way except for food (because she’ll eat whatever), the entire house dynamic is thrown off.
Yes, guilty as charged. I was not on the same page about anything with my new roommates. Those two weeks without my old roomie, were a personified rubick’s cube hell. I never knew if my actions were kosher, or how to proceed next; confused and frustrated all the time. I was constantly (accidently, I swear) pushing limits. Yes, when I signed the lease I agreed to: no friends over after 1:00 a.m., no boys sleeping over, no drinking, and no big groups over. I thought they were a scare tactic used to preserve the house’s awesomeness. I mean, those are the rules at the dorms. And please don’t be ignorant and believe that those rules are ever followed, or even enforced! But I guess I didn’t realize my new roommates were legit – and took that lease as scripture.
Needless to say, over my five month stay – I broke all those rules. Oops!
Now I never had a rager at my house (I’m not trying to clean up that mess!), but I drank in my room (my bad), and friends breaking curfew and sleepovers were common. I was the wild one.
My roommates deserve a little credit though. They never tattled to the landlord, just to each other. And they dutifully took turns telling me to simmer down.
Even when my old roomie moved in, I was still the awkward one. She assimilated well. I was left struggling to censor my mouth, and be conscious of the modesty my outfits portrayed. Knee caps and shoulders!? Scandalous. It was no fun making up excuses to elude Sunday brunches with the ladies from the ward.
I’d like to advise all of you when looking for a new place to live. If I haven’t made it clear in past stories, let me exaggerate the emphasis here: KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GETTING INTO. You have to live with these people. They’re not your siblings though; you can’t punch them if they bother you. They are adults, like you. I’m just saying, try to find out if you’re ever going to actually want to be around them because hiding out in your room is not fun.
The women I lived with last summer were truly polite, and respectful, please don’t think they weren’t!
Sometimes, people just don’t “click.” And though I don’t believe roommates have to be BFFs, I do believe they shouldn’t have to tip-toe around each other. I felt so entirely out of place in that house that I honestly felt like I had no choice but to move, yet again! I don’t think they minded it much. So with a mutual acceptance of exit, I moved to where I live now. I’ve yet to move from here, but I can’t lie and say I haven’t already thought about it…