There comes a time in every young person’s life where they are forced out of the comfort of their parent’s home – (where the toilet paper always appears magically on the holder, and the fridge is always fully stocked) – and out into the big, wide world of responsibilities. For most of us, this is when we leave the nest to go to university. Here are the top six things that make you want to cry until your mother comes and saves you from the filth monster that is piling up on your floor:
1. Your empty fridge
You weren’t that naive, you knew that food had to come from somewhere, you even vaguely remember hearing once or twice that your parents were ‘going to the store to get some groceries,’ however, you never knew how actually daunting the task of ‘going to the store’ was. Being busy juggling your schedule of classes, homework, and Netflix, you don’t have the time to trek all the way to the store and plan what you’re going to cook (its unfortunately unacceptable to order pizza every night – there comes a point where even the delivery guy starts judging you) so that you can get the food that you need. Even when you do manage to actually go and get groceries, you never seem to buy the right thing. Unfortunately your fridge doesn’t come fully stocked with condiments, spices, and those things that seem to just always be there, and it always seems like every time you make a full ‘Master Chef’ meal that you’re missing that one last ingredient – that’ll make you so angry you won’t even enjoy the meal that your procrastinated your studying by making.
2. Your potential high risk of scurvy
This needs to be an important point in its own – while it seems like you never have any food, you actually never have fruits or vegetables – or at least an amount that would sustain you for more than a day. You can only go so long lying to yourself that that Booster Juice or remade salad that you picked up while you were actually at the grocery store before you realize that you are significantly lacking in one of the main food groups. You may use the excuse that your roommates barely give you enough fridge room for your leftovers and milk (solely used for coffee – of course), never mind any for a luxury such as a bag of apples, but deep down you know that in your grocery budget, if there’s only room for an extra bag of chips or some broccoli, you’re going with the tortillas any day (maybe you’ll even dip them in some guacamole – that is 100% a vegetable).
3. The lack of clean clothes
Obviously when you moved into your new house, the fairies that magically picked your dirty clothes up off of the floor, put them into the washing machine, and then folded them neatly into your drawer didn’t get the memo. You mourn the days where you didn’t have to choose between potentially smelling bad and having to actually do your own laundry. After turning your favourite white shirt pink and shrinking your brand new jeans, you decide its best to just bring your clothes home during winter break so that the cleaning fairies can take care of it.
4. How accustomed you are to the finer things in life
… and by the ‘finer’ things, i’m really referring to all of the little things around your house that you never really acknowledged, but grew very accustomed to during your eighteen years at home. You’re cold and all you want to do is wrap yourself in one of the many blankets on the couch? ITS NOT THERE. You’re bored of doing your homework and want to waste time mindlessly studying at a painting on the wall? ITS NOT THERE. You want to clean you dirty shoes on a doormat before you go inside? ITS NOT THERE. Now I’m not saying that you’re using boxes as chairs (hopefully) but you definitely don’t need to tell people that you didn’t hire a decorator.
5. The insane prices of EVERYTHING
How does a package of cheese cost seven dollars? Its basically a necessity for all of your go to meals – pizza, nachos, grilled cheese, just a hunk of cheese on its own… While you can justify spending that much on a drink at the bar (because alcohol is just expensive in general, and the bars need to make a profit, OK) you would rather not spend $364 on cheese a year. With that money you could buy… a university textbook. You have having to make adult decisions, and you hate telling your friends that you can’t go out one night because you need to save your money for dishwasher detergent.
6. The realization that in order for things to be clean, you actually need to clean them
One time, you dropped a chip under the couch (not like you had any intention to eat it… of course), and you noticed the horror – movie mess that was going on. An accumulation of dust, dirt and chips that you were too lazy to pick up off the floor reside there. You had always just assumed that that was a spot of the house that you didn’t need to clean – sort of your get out of jail free – area. It seems as though even when you try to put in the effort to clean, you, your roommate, or drunk you, end of messing it up so quickly that it wasn’t even worth the effort to do it in the first place.