Bad roommate or a “difference in values?”
Putting two strangers in a room together for 9 months and seeing how things work out sounds like a reality television show. In actuality, this is a common occurrence at colleges all across America. Often, students will fill out some type of vague personality survey, which is then supposedly used to match that student up with a compatible roommate.
Miraculously, this approach does sometimes work, although it is unclear whether it is because of the method of the personality survey or just because the two people are easy going enough to not try to switch rooms. However, there are times when people are paired up who do not mesh with each other, and problems ensue. And yes, problems worse than a roommate who refuses to wear pants.
Jill Borer, a past Morningside student, is all too familiar with life with a bad roommate.
“My first roommate at college, things started off badly and got progressively worse,” said Borer. “She was nice, but equally as weird.”
Borer’s old roommate was a lesbian, which she specified didn’t bother her, but things got awkward when her ex-roommate asked to see her in her underwear.
“She was just fascinated by the kind of underwear I was wearing and asked me to show her more. I felt so uncomfortable.”
As the semester progressed, Borer’s roommate filled their room with bonsai trees, read books about witchcraft, and constantly made Chinese soups that would stink up their room and her clothes. Her roommate moved into a room with her girlfriend the following semester.
In the new age of technology, people will take to Facebook and Twitter to express thoughts and frustrations. The problem is, they often forget that those posts are public and can be seen by others.
Just ask Andrew Snyder, sophomore at Morningside.
“One day I happened to stumble upon my roommate’s Twitter feed, and it turns out he has been talking crap about me since school started. It’s sort of fun because he doesn’t even know that I know, but it’ll come out before too long, I bet.”
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, had a roommate who would steal her debit card while she was in class, use it, and return it before she was done with class.
“I finally noticed on my bank statement after she had been using it for gas, food and shoes for 5 months.”
Former Morningside student Ryan Schneider had a friend whose old roommate ran an unspecified business from their dorm.
“[He] tried to sue my friend because his alarm went off too early every morning. Apparently, it was ‘interfering with his business.’”
Claire De Roin, senior, dealt with a roommate who was more passive than up-front with her issues.
“My roomie left me passive-aggressive notes everywhere and wouldn’t talk to me at all, ever.”
It’s obvious that there are often problems between roommates, but what does the college’s residence life do about it?
Sheri Hineman, head of Residence Life at Morningside College, basically said that they move them around and don’t ask questions.
“Once the housing freeze has ended, I don’t ask why the person is moving. They may tell me; they may not.”
There are no numbers on how many students change roommates due to problems each year, mainly because, as said by Hineman, students often move because they would rather live with someone else they are better friends with on campus. And since they don’t ask questions, Residence Life doesn’t know whether these room changings are because of problems or just a desire to live with someone else.
There are many different reasons that two roommates might want to split, as discussed above. Sheri Hineman gave a little insight on the typical reasons for a roommate to move out.
“The most common issue is differences in values. One student is into the party scene and the other is not. One student ‘borrows’ their roommate’s belongings without asking. Sometimes it is schedules that cause the problems, if one person has to be up early for practice and the other does not.”
So, appreciate your roommate in all of their pantsless glory and be thankful that they aren’t a theiving homosexual who threatens to sue you for messing up their shady business, leaves you nasty notes and talks smack on Twitter.