1. Playing chicken with your dirty dishes
This is the number one worst thing to do as a roommate. If you use any dish, you wash it. Do not play some sort of sick waiting game until your roommate is forced to clean it or starve. College students don’t tend to have an infinite number of pots and pans, so you have probably left the only cookware dirty. Even if there are other pots, leaving out a dirty dish is disgusting and asking for some form of bug infestation. Eventually your roommate will snap, and it will not be pretty. The best way to avoid having all of your clothes burned on a fiery pit of revenge in the front yard is to come up with a time limit for how long a dirty dish can stay out.
2. Throwing frequent parties and “get-togethers” without warning
It’s perfectly fine to host parties and it’s perfectly fine to have friends over. However, the real problem is a lack of warning. You need to ask your roommates if it’s okay with them that you have three-plus people over. Usually this isn’t a problem, but a little bit of courtesy goes a long way in roommate relations. Also, be sure to have a correct definition of “warning” — especially concerning parties. Getting a party approved is one thing, but if you’re having 30-plus people over, that is something that needs to be explicitly stated, as sometimes definitions of “party” can differ. One roommate may be the classy wine and jazz music type while the other pours whatever-the-heck into a plastic cup and calls it done. The plastic is due to the fact that, at some point in the night, the cup will end up on the floor.
3. Not respecting diet restrictions
Living with new people means you’re going to encounter diets different from yours. Living at home, perhaps you’ve never lived with people who are gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free or have allergies. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you have to conform your diet to fit theirs, but you should ask them if there’s anything you should be doing differently in the kitchen. This is especially important regarding allergies. If someone is allergic to peanuts, perhaps you shouldn’t consistently offer them peanut butter cookies. One day they will forget and accept the cookie. On that day, there will be dire consequences. Or, if you live with a vegetarian, maybe you shouldn’t use their cutting board to cut your chicken.
4. Hemorrhaging utility money
Those living on-Grounds are lucky not to have to worry about this. For those living off-Grounds, utilities are expensive. It doesn’t help when there’s one roommate who can’t figure out how a light switch works, takes long showers and is constantly turning the AC to 65 degrees. Don’t be that roommate. It’s inconsiderate and shows a lack of regard for money. Even if you can afford a 65-degree apartment, not everyone else can. At this point, have an apartment meeting before someone stuffs you in the fridge so you can get your cold air at no extra cost.
5. Being messy
This should go unsaid, however it’s also one of the most common problems people have with their roommates. If you have a single room, congrats — you can be messy in there. It can be your own gross little petri dish if you so wish. The common area is not the place for your shoes, jacket, backpack and whatever else you immediately threw on the floor when you got home. If you share a bedroom with a roommate, you don’t have the luxury of being messy in your room. At this point, you have to leave absolutely no trace of your existence. If they can track you throughout the apartment by following the trail of mess, you’ve failed.
6. Letting the bathroom descend into a state of utter chaos
If you share a bathroom with someone, the objective again is to leave as little a trace of your presence as possible. There should be a place for all toiletries, and that doesn’t mean strewn all over the counter. Towels should not be on the floor, nor should the floor resemble a swamp. As far as cleaning goes, make a chore chart. Don’t get into a waiting game until someone can’t take it anymore and cleans the natural disaster you call a bathroom — that, or they slip on the wet floor and you’re stuck wondering why they keep googling, “how to sue.”
7. Being smelly and noisy
Really anything that can’t be kept to yourself can be constituted as a disturbance of the peace. Loud music — especially in the morning or late at night — is rude. Being smelly doesn’t necessarily mean smelling bad. There are many who enjoy scented candles, perfume and even incense. However, there are also those who have fragrance allergies and sensitivity. If something you do in your room doesn’t stay in your room (i.e., smells and loud noises), be sure to ask permission first. I once had a roommate who constantly burned incense. Now, for the rest of my life, I’m stuck thinking of her every time I go to church on Easter.
8. Being a dirty little food thief
If you didn’t buy it, don’t you dare eat it. The only thing that could possibly be worse than not doing your dishes is eating someone else’s food without asking. You ask permission and offer to pay for it — every time. No exceptions. If you eat their food often, even with permission, you get the reputation of being a food mooch. Buy your own food. For those of you with such roommates, I recommend strategically placed mouse traps.
9. Leaving passive-aggressive notes
What is the purpose of this other than to piss the other person off? I don’t care how many smiley faces and hearts you use. I especially don’t care if you took the time to use multiple colors. No one will take this as friendly criticism and change their ways. At best, they’ll throw the note away and forget about it. At worst, you guys will end up fighting in person when you should have talked about the issue face-to-face. At even worse than worst, they start passive-aggressively taking everything you mentioned in the note to a whole new level. Shoes won’t just be left out, they will be left out in a pile directly in front of your door.
10. Living with an “I” mentality
You are living with other people. Cleaning up your own dishes and mess is doing the bare minimum. A successful apartment should clean together — the stove, microwave, floors, trash — because certain messes are created by all of you. You should take turns buying communal objects like toilet paper, condiments and trash bags. Certain things should be a group effort so that one person isn’t left with all of the work. That person will resent you and silently plot your murder. No biggie.
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