COPING WITH YOUR ROOMMATES

By Oluwaseun Atejioye

To live with individuals in a roommate condition can be a difficult task. Sometimes you can work out your disparities, and on different occasion you can’t. I’ve had so many roommates over the years: individuals that I’m still friends with, individuals that I’m indirectly cordially with and individuals with whom I would stay away from if at all possible. However, regardless of what number of individuals you’ve lived with, devising a means of how to manage and deal with roommates can simply be a major task.

You may have constantly found yourself in appalling circumstances with your roommates and likewise during good moments too. Perhaps it is your inconsiderate roommates that continually woke you up around two in the morning, or you have been on the queue to fetch water and finally you have the water, you drop the container with water in your room and quickly went out to get something, on returning to use the water for a dire task, the container is already empty, maybe you were sleeping and on awakening to go to class, somebody has already put on your shoe and gone out with it.

You find yourself in situation in which roommates tend to provoke you on what you believe to see whether you will compromise or not. Just like instances specified above, some roommates might be frustrating and be very annoying. Some may deliberately want to get you angry and make fun out of your reaction. For some roommates their motto is “noise making”, they expand little talk (voice always at the top) that doesn’t add any significant value to their personal life.

While my rooming situation left much to be desired, I realize that I too wasn’t the perfect roommate either. However, my roommates and I were still able to get along together genuinely well and managed to end each session on great terms. There are a couple of essential things you can do to help start a successful roommate relationship and a few strategies to help ease even the most exceedingly awful moment of rooming conditions.

First and foremost, you need to respect your roommates. Regardless of what level you are or the wide age gap to your roommates, respect should be the primary key. I know, sometimes, it’s really hard. But in case, keep in mind the saying that, “Respect is reciprocal”. If you don’t respect them first, they sure won’t respect you as well.

Be considerate – if your roommate is sleeping or attempting to sleep, keep the noise level down. If your roommate is studying, don’t have loud discussions in the same room. It really should be common sense, but it is truly astounding how people don’t comprehend what it means to be considerate. If in doubt, read Luke 6:31, which says, “…do unto others as you want them do unto you…” and then ask yourself if you would be annoyed if your roommate did whatever it is you would like to do to them.

Keep your hands off their stuff – respecting your roommates’ means respecting their stuff. If you really need to borrow something of theirs, always, always ask before you do. People have different ideas about what should be shared and when. People mostly hide under the pretence of having close relationship with ones roommate; everyone deserves his/her privacy and properties to be respected. So, ask before taking anything. If they say no, don’t get offended. Some people just don’t like other people using their stuff. This goes especially for food. Its super annoying to open your pot and see that your lunch that you planned to eat is now gone. If you eat your roommate’s food, it is absolutely your responsibility to replace it.

Keep your corner clean – just as stated earlier, respect also means you keeping your side of the room clean, pack up your clothes, make your bed, arrange your notebooks properly, and wash your plates immediately after use. It is a good habit to get into and it will make you a better roommate. And hopefully, if your roommates see you keeping your side clean, they’ll be more inclined to keep their clean.

Manage that circumstance – there are quite some things that you will need to get used to when living with people. Sometimes regardless of how much you do, your roommates will still drive you crazy. You simply need to suck it up and manage the situation. Generally, the things that bother you are minor things that you can endure for just a session. If you have difficulty keeping your annoyances under control, remember this quote by Robert Arton Wilson: “You are precisely as big as what you love and precisely as small as what you allow to annoy you”.

Converse with your roommate – sit and have a discussion with your roommate about the key things that really irritate you about the situation. Possibly he snores; perhaps she talks and yells excessively on the phone. Whatever it is, don’t yell and don’t blame. Be calm and friendly and basically explain your situation. Concentrate on the big aspects. If you start nitpicking or start getting mean, the situation will get out of control, nothing will get solved, and you’ll both be angry.

Get out of the room – this is presumably the least difficult of all solutions. At the point your roommates are doing something irritating or annoying, simply leave the room. Go to the library if you need to study. Go to a friend’s room if you just need somewhere else to escape. Getting out of your room is beneficial for you in any case, and some couple of hours away from your roommates will help keep pressure from getting too high.

While your experience sharing a room may not generally go easily, it will, with everything taken into account, be fulfilling. For whatever length of time, as long as you’re communicating effectively with your roommates and telling them of any issues that arise, your relationship shouldn’t suffer. Roommates bonds are like no other relationship and can last a lifetime, so don’t let silly little habits get in the way of an awesome friendship.

References:
https://www.bustle.com/articles/73909-how-to-deal-with-annoying-roommates-without-losing-your-mind-because-communication-could-make-them-finally