Sorry, Dorm/Roommate Rant

[Berd]

It is a good thing my roommate is not in the room right now or else I'd probably hurt her in some way. :mad:
OK here is the story (It is kinda long):
Over Thanksgiving break the RAs in the dorm did room-checks. A while ago my roommate had a friend over that decided to drink a can of beer. Two things; he is underage and this is a dry campus. Well, my dear roommate never got around to throwing away the beer can, so the RAs found it and had to 'write-up' our room. On Friday we get to go and have a prehearing conference with our Hall Director and get to find out what is gonna happen.
I better be able to leave right away since I had nothing to do with the incident. I was there when the friend got the beer can out, but I had to leave before he was done with it. I never realized the can was up on her shelf for the past 6 or more weeks either. I also really hope that this does not go on my record or affect my chances of transferring to another dorm. Over a month ago I requested to transfer to my friends room in another dorm. The floor I want to be on is the Health and Wellness floor for people who do not drink or smoke. If they are guilty of smoking or drinking, they are kicked-out.

My roommate is a really nice girl but does drive me nuts at times. She misses classes all the time (failing at least 2) and has to use my notes, gets drunk every now and then, is now a Sorority girl, guys are over till 12:30/1:00, took over my fridge, stuff like that. I had thought about moving to the Health and Wellness floor to be with my friend for awhile, but turned in the transfer papers after a certain incidence.
Around 2 or 3 on a Sat. morning I was sleeping and my roommate was partying somewhere else. (I didn't lock the door b/c she might not have been in a condition to unlock it without waking me up.) Two guys my roommate knows came to our room looking for her. They walked right in to our room that had the door closed, lights off, I was sleeping, and my roommate wasn't even there! :erm: :eek: They just sat on her bed for 20 to 30 minutes. I never would have realized that they were there until on that Mon. they told my roommate what they did and than she told me.
OK, I'm done for now. I think :erm: . I just needed to get that out. Now I just have to wait to see what is gonna happen and I'm really, really ticked right now, but need to settle down before I do something bad. :evil:

[jjmouse]

You need to lock your door. You could have been raped. Your saftey has to come first. Af your roomate is so drunk she can not get in with out waking you up, that is prolly a good thing. She might bring men in with her. Then you both get raped.

Lock the door.

[Berd]

Very good advice! Last year my old roommate and I always locked the door. This year I did some of the time but wasn't in the habit like last year. Now I definetly lock it everynight and go home on weekends so I don't have to put up with sloshed roommates and suitemates.

[Faren]

I agree with JJ. Always lock your door!!

Sorry you are saddled with such an incompatable roommate. I hope you get to move soon.:hugs:

[Dawn]

I hope they realize you had nothing to do with it. Maybe since you were requesting a transfer it'll clue them in to the fact that you weren't involved with the same stuff your roommate was doing. Did you ever talk to your RA about why you were wanting to move? Could they speak on your behalf?

And yikes! :scared: How scary to find out that 2 strange guys had just walked into your room and sat down while you were sleeping. You were so lucky that nothing happened. She can just bang on the door the next time.

[Berd]

I had the meeting with my Hall Director and he said that he is not going to count me responsible for the beer can incident. :D
It sounds like as soon as my friend's roommate officially checks out, I'll be able to start moving in! :bouncy: Yay!

[Dawn]

That's great! :ok: I'm glad everything worked out for you.

[C_ris]

she "gets drunk every now and then" - how often is every now and then?

This is why I am so glad that we don't so shared rooms over here!

[Berd]

Snip she "gets drunk every now and then" - how often is every now and then?


I've been up 2 or 3 times when she has come back sloshed. If she is really in bad shape she doesn't come back to the dorm, thankfully. She usually goes and parties on weekends. I almost always go home on weekends so don't see it, but she or her friends have mentioned how drunk they get at a certain party, etc.
I'd say on average, everyother week (which is better than a lot of students). I guess that is quite often when I think about it. :erm: I'm not witness to it all the time, though.

[C_ris]

Every other week? That all?! That isn't 'quite often' but rarely or occasionally! (at least over here)

[Hermi]

I totally understand the "bad roomie" thing. . . . .

My first year at University, I was saddled with the 3 Prom Queens form Hell. . . . . . . it ended with them moving out at the end of term (they only had 9 month leases, whereas I had 12 months), stealing half my stuff, and breaking into my room (which was locked) and completely trashing it. We're talking stuff three feet deep on the floor, including the dirty dishes that they hadn't wanted to do and the trash that they never took to the dumpster. I need never to see them again - I don't think I could kerb my tongue if I did. . . .

[Bobbsy]

I'm glad things seem to have worked out okay and that you should no longer be saddled with a room-mate you don't get along with.

However, to take this slightly off topic, am I right in assuming we're talking an American UNIVERSITY dorm here?

If so, are the sort of rules and inspection regime you describe typical of American universities? (And what is an "RA" by the way?)

Seriously, I don't think any university students in the UK would be willing to tolerate this sort of treatment. Is it really common over there?

Bobbsy

[Berd]

Some of this is kinda off topic and long. Sorry. :O

I'm at North Dakota State University in the USA. The University is considered a 'dry campus' which means there is no alcohol allowed no matter what. No bottles, can collections, empty containers, and stuff like that are allowed either. The legal drinking age over here is 21. Most people in the dorms are 18-20. Older students usually live off campus.
A few months ago at a college across the river in Minnesota, a 20 year old guy died from drinking too much. He was at a fraternity party and was found in the Red River a few days later. So every college and the police are pretty strict about enforcing stuff right now.

An RA is a resident assistant. They are students that live on each floor and are the Hall Director's assistants. We go to them if we have roommate trouble, something is wrong in our room, report people breaking the rules etc. They are allowed to do checks at anytime b/c we are on campus property. Over vacation breaks like Winter break, Spring break, Thanksgiving, and Easter the RAs come and make sure that windows are closed in the rooms, there are no fire hazards, things like that. They also check for things we aren't supposed to have like; alcohol, candles, toasters, drugs. They don't go through our stuff, they just survey the room and see if anything is out in the open.

In North Dakota we have one of the biggest problems in the US with binge drinking especially for underage kids. There is just not a whole lot to do in this state so most people party. Parents usually don't care and will buy their kids the alcohol, too. I went to a very small highschool in this state and kids started partying and drinking when they were around 12. That is not uncommon. But it is not good when that is almost 10 years under the legal age.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I was in Europe the drinking seemed like a part of daily life and everyone seemed to do it. The people I saw knew how to handle themselves even drunk and were not breaking the law either. Here students usually do binge drinking where they refrain from partying too hard during the week, but go nuts on the weekend. This can be really dangerous.

I know drinking is seen differently all over the world, but it seems like we have a lot of problems with it in the US. :roll: Maybe other places do too, but I'm too lazy to google statistics up right now. :redfruit:

[Bobbsy]

Thanks for the long and detailed explanation, Berd.

I guess the big difference is the slightly illogical law in the States where you can be legally adult (i.e. vote) at 18 but not drink until 21. That must make a big difference as to what can and cannot be allowed on a campus. Over here, 18 is the age for voting, drinking, signing contracts etc etc. By the time kids get to university they are legally adult in every respect and are treated as such.

I certainly wouldn't claim that binge drinking isn't a problem here as well...but if it's going to be a problem it's not isolated to 18 year olds. I do agree with you that there's much less of the "forbidden fruit" aspect to drinking here which in many/most cases can lead to a more responsible attitude. In my family, kids were allowed a glass of wine with their meal as young as they chose to ask for it. The mystery was soon gone and they didn't ask for it unless they actually enjoyed the taste, i.e. not just "because it's alcohol".

I do have to say that, even without the drinking aspect, there would be a pretty big outcry about loss of privacy if "RAs" were allowed to enter student rooms without warning. Ah well, life would be boring if everywhere was the same.

Bobbsy

[Sophia Caligo]

I have two general rules that I enforce with all of my roommates... (I've been at college for three semesters, and have gone through four roommates... and am currently alone in my room.)

No drinking in the room.
No sex in the room.


Perhaps those rules are the reason why I don't have a roommate right now, but as long as you get it down on paper and have it signed then you have rights to kick them out of the room. At least in my college.

[Rabble]

Ugh, I have no idea why anyone would want to be sharing their bedroom with a complete stranger the way americans in university dorms seem to. It's really creepy.
:crazy:

[Monkeysrule]

Ugh, I have no idea why anyone would want to be sharing their bedroom with a complete stranger the way americans in university dorms seem to. It's really creepy.
:crazy:
We kinda have to.

[Rabble]

We kinda have to.
Why? :confused:

[Monkeysrule]

I suppose our colleges don't have the funding to have a room for every student.

[aberlioness]

Monkeysrule, if you don't mind me asking, but how much do you pay in terms of accomodation and course fees? I pay about £1500 a year in tuition fees and about £2500 in accomodation fees. For that I share a house (or flat depending which hall of residence I'm living in) with five other people, but I get my own room, and have broadband internet and all other costs (water, heating, etc & etc) covered.

[jjmouse]

An American college dormitory might be 75 or 100 years old. They were made to hold two students, and sometimes three, to a room.

Folks born and raised way back when would consider it normal to share a room with other folks.

Good manners meant they got along. Shared space equally. Did not steal from one another. Bathroom and shower down the hall.

In the 50's--60's colleges built new dormitories. One room to two or three people, sharing an attached bathroom with the two or three people in the next room.

Dorms built in the 70's might be built the same way. Only adding a kitchenette area. (This used to be married housing. And the waiting lists were long for such.)

Dorms built now, might be a small apartment. Living room. Eat in kitchen. Bedroom to each student.



This would be because of the way kids are raised now.

There are fewer kids per family. They each have their own room. Their own TV. Their own Computer. And so on and so on. The concept of sharing is beyond them. They have never had to share, and do not intend to start in college.

Colleges are doing their best to keep with the demands of the students. They have to keep costs down, but provide the sort of housing that students are used to having at home.

There are a good many kids going to college on the college fund their parents have been saving 18+ years.


Oh yes. Married students might now get a house, instead of a small apartment.

[Berd]

Sorry, I know you were asking Monkeysrule, but I can tell you mine and we can compare, too.

NDSU is one of the lowest in cost in the US.
Tuition and fees around: $5,264 in-state, $12,542 out-of-state
Room/board: $4,780
That is for the 2005-2006 year.
In-state tuition means you are are a resident of the state. You have lived there for over a year and your driver's license, etc. is in the state. Out-of-state, you are not a resident of the state. You are just coming here for college. We also have reciprocity where students coming from certain states will pay a $1000 or 2000 more that in-state.
The room/board used to be higher than our tuition, but tuition had a big increase last year. This room/board fee is the minimum that people in the dorms pay, and they have THREE roommates. :eek: I'm lucky I got into a dorm that we have a 'suite' and I pay a little extra for this. Each suite has two bedrooms, 2 people in each, and we share a shower/sink/bathroom. Utilities are paid. A lot of dorms, the whole floor has to share a bathroom. There are some single rooms, but they are very hard to get into and cost a few hundred more.

I know some of it is that the University wants people to meet others etc., but they also want to do things that cost the University less money.

[aberlioness]

I would have thought those dorms would have been converted by now, the age of them is irrelevant (because even at Oxford and Cambridge, students would not have to share rooms, and they are far older universities - if you can convert a 13th century college to have modern facilities, then a building of 100 years old is a cinch by comparison). It's a disgraceful business to house people this way; whatever way you were brought up, a person should have privacy. I couldn't possibly work if I had to share a room with someone, and the lack of 'me' time would drive me up the wall.

As for the concept of sharing, I wouldn't be so negative, plenty of people of my generation are very generous with their time, especially when it comes to charity and voluntary work. We are very proud about our fundraising activities such as 'rag week', which is a week dedicated to fundraising and volunteering in the local community. Generosity and the ability to share doesn't begin and end with being able to share a room with a complete stranger, after all there are still responsibilities and compromises that have to be met when living in the same house or flat. I will also remain sceptical that people didn't ever steal from each other in the past, because I can't believe that statement could be held true.

If parents have been saving funds for years (suggesting that you're coughing up a heck of a lot of money) for what is essentially a service, then I would expect that the service that I recieve for the money I have spent to correspond. Is someone's privacy worth so little? Maybe the British place a greater emphasis for the right to privacy, but being made to share is incredibly patronising to me.

[I LOVE Dashboard]

I'm glad things seem to have worked out okay and that you should no longer be saddled with a room-mate you don't get along with.

However, to take this slightly off topic, am I right in assuming we're talking an American UNIVERSITY dorm here?

If so, are the sort of rules and inspection regime you describe typical of American universities? (And what is an "RA" by the way?)

Seriously, I don't think any university students in the UK would be willing to tolerate this sort of treatment. Is it really common over there?

Bobbsy

In my school, if we keep the door locked while we're drinking and aren't too loud, no one notices. If a CA (my school decided that community advisor is more politically correct than resident advisor...don't ask) comes to yell at you for being too loud and sees alcohol, you can get in trouble. However, I've had incidents wehre I was clearly drunk, ran into my CA and she ignored me...well, gave me a look, but ignored me. They can't come into your room to find empty alcohol containers, and if they see an empty bottle of vodka or something in the garbage, they can't assume that you were the one drinking it. My CA last year (so awesome, such a bad CA) drank with us. It was fun!

[I LOVE Dashboard]

Sorry, I know you were asking Monkeysrule, but I can tell you mine and we can compare, too.

NDSU is one of the lowest in cost in the US.
Tuition and fees around: $5,264 in-state, $12,542 out-of-state
Room/board: $4,780
That is for the 2005-2006 year.
In-state tuition means you are are a resident of the state. You have lived there for over a year and your driver's license, etc. is in the state. Out-of-state, you are not a resident of the state. You are just coming here for college. We also have reciprocity where students coming from certain states will pay a $1000 or 2000 more that in-state.
The room/board used to be higher than our tuition, but tuition had a big increase last year. This room/board fee is the minimum that people in the dorms pay, and they have THREE roommates. :eek: I'm lucky I got into a dorm that we have a 'suite' and I pay a little extra for this. Each suite has two bedrooms, 2 people in each, and we share a shower/sink/bathroom. Utilities are paid. A lot of dorms, the whole floor has to share a bathroom. There are some single rooms, but they are very hard to get into and cost a few hundred more.

I know some of it is that the University wants people to meet others etc., but they also want to do things that cost the University less money.

hmm...students who aren't on scholarship at my school pay around 40,000 a year (tuition and room and board). It's fabulous.

[Berd]

In my school, if we keep the door locked while we're drinking and aren't too loud, no one notices. If a CA (my school decided that community advisor is more politically correct than resident advisor...don't ask) comes to yell at you for being too loud and sees alcohol, you can get in trouble. However, I've had incidents wehre I was clearly drunk, ran into my CA and she ignored me...well, gave me a look, but ignored me. They can't come into your room to find empty alcohol containers, and if they see an empty bottle of vodka or something in the garbage, they can't assume that you were the one drinking it. My CA last year (so awesome, such a bad CA) drank with us. It was fun!

:roll: I've seen only a few like that, but is your campus a 'dry campus'? No alcohol is allowed for anyone (exception at the President's house) on campus property including fraternities and soroities. You are not even supposed be on campus if you get drunk somewhere else and come back to go to bed if you live here.

Our RA/CA or whatever you wanna call them, if they see a violation of policy they 'write you up' and then you get a prehearing with the Hall Director. That's basically just a talk where the director tells you what the alleged violation was, your side of the story, etc. Then he/she will decide what should be done. You can request a regular hearing or there a bunch of other stuff you can do.
Besides checking at school breaks, an RA or Hall Director don't usually check rooms unless there have been reports of violations. (Because of the housing contract we all signed, they can do these checks.) Other students could turn in roommates or others on the floor. People can be 'written up' for all kinds of things.
It all kinda depends on the RA and Hall Directors decisions/opinions, which isn't always such a good thing, but if they know you well, don't get into a lot of trouble, and things like that, they are pretty nice about their decisions. ;)

[I LOVE Dashboard]

:roll: I've seen only a few like that, but is your campus a 'dry campus'? No alcohol is allowed for anyone (exception at the President's house) on campus property including fraternities and soroities. You are not even supposed be on campus if you get drunk somewhere else and come back to go to bed if you live here.

Our RA/CA or whatever you wanna call them, if they see a violation of policy they 'write you up' and then you get a prehearing with the Hall Director. That's basically just a talk where the director tells you what the alleged violation was, your side of the story, etc. Then he/she will decide what should be done. You can request a regular hearing or there a bunch of other stuff you can do.
Besides checking at school breaks, an RA or Hall Director don't usually check rooms unless there have been reports of violations. (Because of the housing contract we all signed, they can do these checks.) Other students could turn in roommates or others on the floor. People can be 'written up' for all kinds of things.
It all kinda depends on the RA and Hall Directors decisions/opinions, which isn't always such a good thing, but if they know you well, don't get into a lot of trouble, and things like that, they are pretty nice about their decisions. ;)

People can be written up here...we don't have a dry campus, but I do live in a dry quad (it's a soph dorm so they assume everyone's underage). As long as you're pretty inconspicuous about it, you don't get into trouble...and most parties get broken up pretty early (12ish) but when the campus police come to break them up, they don't check IDs or anything.

[Bobbsy]

Mention of a "dry quad" reminds me of another reason why UK and US universities can be so different.

Although there are exceptions, not so many UK universities are build with an American-style "campus" structure. Quite often university buildings...including "halls of residence" (dorm is a less common term here)...are scattered in and around a town. This would make the idea of a "dry campus" an impossibility. I suppose you could have a "dry building" but it's just as likely to be next door to a pub as to another university facility!

Bobbsy

[Staerwyen]

Okay I go to MTSU and tution here is around 6,000 and houseing is around 5000 for renivated dorms or the privliage of havin) we have a kitchen one roomate and have to share 6 showers with 50 girls. Trust me thats better than the cheap dorms same number of showers 80 girls. If you live in the apartments you have a living room, a kitchen, and only two people share a bath room. or you can live in an older dorm for the same price and have a quad bath and only share with 7 other people.

Now my roommate is a nightmare not as bad as yours but close. She didnt bring anything electronic, so everything expensive in the room is mine. The computer is mine, the stereo, the game system, the tv, the dvd player, the printer, the microwave, the toaster (even though technically we arent supposed to have them), and the telephone they are all mine. Now she spends very little time in the room maybe 10 hours spread out through the week. However, everytime she comes in when she leaves she won't lock the door. Of course she doesnt mind theres nothing really of hers anyone could or want to take, but I have at least 2000$ of equipment in here not to mention very expensive instruments.

Another thing she does is she will take the groceries I buy with my money to her boyfriends house without asking me. I know food isn't that expensive but I cant afford to buy food for her, her bf, and her bfs 3 roomates and their girlfriends. Then when she is in the room she will move my stuff around if she doesnt like the way I have my side of the room. She tells me to clean up, whenever she thinks the room is to messy. Honestly I wouldnt mind some of this stuff, but shes not living here, like I said shes here 10 hours a week and I think that might be give or take a few hours.

[Berd]

Sorry my posts are kinda long, you can skip'em if you want. I just got a lot to let out. :O

Staeryen, your roommate sounds pretty bad especially when she takes the food you bought. At least you don't have to put up with her in your room very much, though. I hide most of my food in my closet and under the bed.
I was the one that brought the expensive type stuff, too. The phone, answering machine, fans, radio, TV, microwave, and fridge are mine. We both have computers and printers. She brought tons of photos, posters of guys, clothes, and shoes. Lots and lots of clothes and shoes. Half in the closet half out. :roll:

At least she is not a b*tch, but she doesn't really have concept of common courtesy or thinking about how others would feel and real, real ditzy. She grew up pretty spoiled and messy, too.

My roommate kinda took over 90% of my fridge. I've gotten a little mad and taken some of the stuff out that wouldn't be spoiled when I've brought leftovers from home. (Why do you need 22 pouches of CapriSuns and 12 pudding cups cold all at once?) She wasn't happy, but too bad! :devil: I heard her complain about it to some of our suite mates.

This is kinda stupid/funny.
I have never met a person that always puts the closed captioning on when she has 20/20 vision and hates reading. The remote that could work the closed captioning menu died, so I was stuck with the annoying closed captioning for over a month. I finally messed around with it, got it to work, turned the captioning off and hid the remote. Now she can't use that function with the other remote and calls the remote (throws it) and TV stupid b/c the captioning won't work. :evil:

[C_ris]

Thanks for the long and detailed explanation, Berd.

I guess the big difference is the slightly illogical law in the States where you can be legally adult (i.e. vote) at 18 but not drink until 21. That must make a big difference as to what can and cannot be allowed on a campus. Over here, 18 is the age for voting, drinking, signing contracts etc etc. By the time kids get to university they are legally adult in every respect and are treated as such.


In every way, except when it comes to money, when we are expected to live off of our parents. Tuition fees are decided by how much your parents earn - if I am an adult, then why should it matter how much my parents earn as to whether *I* should have to pay tuition fees? Luckily for me, my parents do pay it, but if they didn't, then I would be royally screwed.

We are adults when it suits them, and children when it means that they can get more money out of us. Ridiculous.

[C_ris]

Some of this is kinda off topic and long. Sorry. :O

I'm at North Dakota State University in the USA. The University is considered a 'dry campus' which means there is no alcohol allowed no matter what. No bottles, can collections, empty containers, and stuff like that are allowed either. The legal drinking age over here is 21. Most people in the dorms are 18-20. Older students usually live off campus.
A few months ago at a college across the river in Minnesota, a 20 year old guy died from drinking too much. He was at a fraternity party and was found in the Red River a few days later. So every college and the police are pretty strict about enforcing stuff right now.

An RA is a resident assistant. They are students that live on each floor and are the Hall Director's assistants. We go to them if we have roommate trouble, something is wrong in our room, report people breaking the rules etc. They are allowed to do checks at anytime b/c we are on campus property. Over vacation breaks like Winter break, Spring break, Thanksgiving, and Easter the RAs come and make sure that windows are closed in the rooms, there are no fire hazards, things like that. They also check for things we aren't supposed to have like; alcohol, candles, toasters, drugs. They don't go through our stuff, they just survey the room and see if anything is out in the open.

In North Dakota we have one of the biggest problems in the US with binge drinking especially for underage kids. There is just not a whole lot to do in this state so most people party. Parents usually don't care and will buy their kids the alcohol, too. I went to a very small highschool in this state and kids started partying and drinking when they were around 12. That is not uncommon. But it is not good when that is almost 10 years under the legal age.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when I was in Europe the drinking seemed like a part of daily life and everyone seemed to do it. The people I saw knew how to handle themselves even drunk and were not breaking the law either. Here students usually do binge drinking where they refrain from partying too hard during the week, but go nuts on the weekend. This can be really dangerous.

I know drinking is seen differently all over the world, but it seems like we have a lot of problems with it in the US. :roll: Maybe other places do too, but I'm too lazy to google statistics up right now. :redfruit:

We have American students who come over here - and then get plastered every night just because they can. They can't drink at home, and so they have no real idea of how much they can drink, or understand the concept of just social drinking.

[HarperBrandyAlexander]

We have American students who come over here - and then get plastered every night just because they can. They can't drink at home, and so they have no real idea of how much they can drink, or understand the concept of just social drinking.


That's why I think that the first bit of drinking should be done probably with parents, at home. (Now I'm serious here, don't laugh). If you pose drinking as some sort of 'forbidden fruit' then stupid kids who are out for the first time are going to go nuts with it because... well, they've never been exposed and expecally in America the culture for kids is to go out binging.

My boyfriend was introduced to alcohol as a kid (13 or 14) and he grew up knowing his limits. His family all grew up that way because having a drink when they get together is an extremly normal part of thier family. He grew up well adjusted and didn't have to suffer from normal mistakes because by the time he was out and about he knew when his body was telling him 'enough'.

I didn't start drinking until I was 21, so I got to learn the hard way when your body doesn't bouce back as quickly as it would have when you are a bit younger. :D

I'll post another post about my roommate from Hell, since this one has gone a bit off topic. Sorry.

[HarperBrandyAlexander]

Okay here's my roommate story. I'm a little worried about this post because the truth is very.... squicky. So if you're the sensitive sort, go past this now!

So I'll just get down to it. My roommate was addicted to sex. Now some people say that they're addicted just because they enjoy it. This wasn't my roommate. She was absolutly addicted to the point of sickness.

Let's just say she would do things to herself at the point of injury. When myself and my other two roommates were gone she would...er... do things with the windows open so everyone else could see. (this was how we knew) She would also go into the our room and walk naked around the apartment... doing things.

She even dressed skimpy and went out at night ON PURPOSE seeing if anyone would try to rape her. You think I'm kidding? I'm not. Her whole thing was 'you can't rape the willing' okkkkaaayy.

She was pretty possessive as well. Any time that I or any of my other two roommates would have a boyfriend she would throw herself at him whole heartedly. We finally coined a phrase, 'damaged goods' to mean a man who had touched this roommate.

It was too bad she had an STD. That was another reason we didn't want to touch the guys who had fallen for her advances. Yes, she knew of her STD and, no, she didn't have safe sex. She simply didn't care. It was enough for us to bleach the tolet seat on a regular basis, though!

Not only that, but she compleatly went though another one of my roommate's cost-co brand 60 pack of mac and cheese. Wow.

We finally forced her out to another apartment. Then she went after an ex-boyfriend of mine. I struggled with maybe telling him about her STD, but as he had belived her story that we were all mean over our truth about what she was doing.... eh, he found out eventually...

Plus, she was messy.

I guess everyone has their roommate from Hell story, and there's mine.

[Staerwyen]

My sisters fiance was trapped with a really bad roommate. His was a Gay prostitute. He couldn't stay in his own room because his roomate was "working" 2 or 3 times a night.

[C_ris]

That's why I think that the first bit of drinking should be done probably with parents, at home. (Now I'm serious here, don't laugh). If you pose drinking as some sort of 'forbidden fruit' then stupid kids who are out for the first time are going to go nuts with it because... well, they've never been exposed and expecally in America the culture for kids is to go out binging.

My boyfriend was introduced to alcohol as a kid (13 or 14) and he grew up knowing his limits. His family all grew up that way because having a drink when they get together is an extremly normal part of thier family. He grew up well adjusted and didn't have to suffer from normal mistakes because by the time he was out and about he knew when his body was telling him 'enough'.

I didn't start drinking until I was 21, so I got to learn the hard way when your body doesn't bouce back as quickly as it would have when you are a bit younger. :D

I'll post another post about my roommate from Hell, since this one has gone a bit off topic. Sorry.

Most people over here tend to start drinking by 16, so by 18, when it becomes legal, then it is too much of a new thing. The reason why so many American students go wild over here is because it is a 'forbidden fruit' at home.

[aberlioness]

Most people over here tend to start drinking by 16, so by 18, when it becomes legal, then it is too much of a new thing. The reason why so many American students go wild over here is because it is a 'forbidden fruit' at home.

I'm grateful that my Mum was cool about alcohol. I was allowed to drink cider (even scrumpy!) when I was 14 or so, and I was introduced to wine at an earlier age -about eight or so- though the first time I got drunk I was about four (it was an accident - my Mum had a small party where she took her friends upstairs to show off the new decor, but they had all left their glasses of wine within reach of my brother and I, and so by the time they came back down me and my bro were somewhat squiffy!) The net result being my brother and I are pretty sensible about drinking. I know that I drink far less than other people of my generation even though I have a fairly high tolerance for alcohol. Basically I've been there, seen it, and have got the t-shirt. I'm not interested in getting trolleyed (never have been) and so I treat alcohol with the respect it deserves.

It helps that the law allows people to drink alcohol at home underage, which allows teenagers to experiment under the eye of their parents. I do however, appreciate that not all parents are as good as my Mum was about teaching about of alcohol. My Mum never told me that drinking is bad, but told me to appreciate it - "don't guzzle it!" she'd cry, so I've become a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to wine :good:

[Sophia Caligo]

Hmmm...

Roommate number one:
Violent, messy, whiny, partier, sex fanatic, uber religious...

YES, uber religious. Said what I was doing was wrong. *rolls eyes* I was meditating. And evidently my one poster of a shammoness was WITCHCRAFT!

So of course she was a hypocrytt.


Roommate Number 2: Actually decent. Obeyed my two golden rules (No sex or drinking in the room) and was respectful.

Roommate Number 3: Held a grudge like nothing else... For something that had occured the year before. Super neat and slightly prissy.

Roommate Number 4: Partier, brought boys in frequently (No sex though), and I couldn't get into my dresser drawer since she had blocked it with her pile of clothing.

Roommate Number 5: Myself. :D Best way to be. For some reason no one wanted to room with me after Roommate Number 4 moved out after only 3 weeks.

I've been at school for 3 semesters. We're supposed to keep a roommate for at least 2 semesters.

Just remember, hold your ground and if they don't like it, they'll leave... *points to her track record* and its not that bad being by yourself in a room.

[I LOVE Dashboard]

Hmmm...

Roommate number one:
Violent, messy, whiny, partier, sex fanatic, uber religious...

YES, uber religious. Said what I was doing was wrong. *rolls eyes* I was meditating. And evidently my one poster of a shammoness was WITCHCRAFT!

So of course she was a hypocrytt.


Roommate Number 2: Actually decent. Obeyed my two golden rules (No sex or drinking in the room) and was respectful.

Roommate Number 3: Held a grudge like nothing else... For something that had occured the year before. Super neat and slightly prissy.

Roommate Number 4: Partier, brought boys in frequently (No sex though), and I couldn't get into my dresser drawer since she had blocked it with her pile of clothing.

Roommate Number 5: Myself. :D Best way to be. For some reason no one wanted to room with me after Roommate Number 4 moved out after only 3 weeks.

I've been at school for 3 semesters. We're supposed to keep a roommate for at least 2 semesters.

Just remember, hold your ground and if they don't like it, they'll leave... *points to her track record* and its not that bad being by yourself in a room.

It's really nice being in a single, actually. (I didn't have a problem with my roomy last year...we're good friends) You can get more work done without having to worry abotu someone sleeping/watching tv/listening to music you hate