I know that everybody has this problem at some point. Almost everyone deals with roommates at some point. Some times the situation can be fairly rewarding. But often times it can take a turn southward. My situation is consistently south.
Me and my SO have a roommate. She's been a friend of mine for many years. And I get along great with her... until we agreed to take her in as a roommate.
They say that you never really know someone until you live with them. Man oh man, is that true.
At first it was OK. Then about a month later she decided to cut her rent. No asking if it were OK because she's fallen on hard times or anything (because she wasn't). She just cut it. She claimed that she should pay for her square footage. She has one of two bedrooms. She has the covered parking spot to protect her precious BMW. She doesn't clean her own dishes and doesn't do nice things like buy paper towels or toilet paper.
*deep breath*
Normally, I don't mind someone not paying as much because they're offering some other service as payment. I'm a big fan of the bartering system. We used to have a housemate who couldn't afford to pay us rent, but he offered to do all of the housework and occasionally buy us nice things like food or booze. That was fine. We could manage the rent on our own at that point and neither of us like housework. And to this day, when he comes over to hang or what have you he still does it. He doesn't have to. He just chooses to.
But our current housemate...
*sigh*
Yeah.
I usually do all of the housework. I'm fairly meticulous and like to find things. The one time she managed to clean then house I couldn't find anything for months. Even to this day I'm still looking for things. She actually did some housework after gypping us on rent... 5 months after moving. The reasoning behind it, she was dating a guy who was over at our apartment all the time without asking or mentioning it for some time. Hell, I didn't even know who he was for a week.
And I've noticed this trend. She never really puts too much effort into cleaning, until she's in a "relationship" with someone (I'll clarify the quotes later). I think the psychology behind it is this: she wants to prove to random guy X that she happens to be dating that she's a good homemaker and therefore he should marry her. Otherwise, she never offers to clean... ever.
Why did I put the word relationship in quotes? Because, while it is a relationship, it usually lasts about 6 months. There are a few reasons for this. She's horrible with communication. She expects the guy to know what she wants out of a relationship. The reality of the fact is that that is not how it works. I think anyone who is in a relationship for any amount of time (say, longer the 6 month litmus mark) knows that you have to compromise and work and communicate to keep the relationship going. And she's got two guys she's working on. Normally, I don't mind at all. Hey, as long as everyone is on the up and up about a situation, then all's fair. But she's seeing two guys right now. Neither of them knows about the other. And one guy she's pretty much keeping so he can buy her things. Which is a shame because both guys are really nice.
So, I have a feeling that there's going to be some drama in my house. Because this type of situation can only last for so long before it blows up in your face.
Why do I put up with this?
Simple, we can't afford not to. I'm working on getting a new job and living on the Peninsula is expensive.
Hopefully I'll get a new job soon and will no longer have to deal with it.
HOLA!! OK!
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