Friday, February 18, 2005

Question 6 ~ life with others

Did you have a roommate?  What was that person like?  What did you learn about living with other people besides your own family?

When I first moved out of my house I was 17.  I moved in with my boyfriend (who I eventually married).  We lived with three other guys.  Talk about a testosterone filled house.  It wasn't THAT hard living with four guys, but sometimes being the only female wasn't fun.  There was Kurt, Tony, Iving, and of coarse my boyfriend.  I don't see the other three anymore .. of coarse I still see my ex-husband from time to time.
Kurt was friendly, open, very funny.  While Tony was crabby by nature.  He always expected things his way.  Now Irving he just drank, that's all he did. 
When I first moved in, the place was nasty.  I don't think they ever cleaned their toilet.  They had an engine in the middle of the dinning room.  This place needed a woman LOL.  So one day when they were all at work, I scrubbed, polished, rearranged, hung pictures.  It looked really nice when I was done, except that engine.  Which I finally talked them into putting into the garage.  They had their stuff still there, so I didn't totally overhaul it.  I mean naked girls still hung in the kitchen and bathroom, but what are you going to do.  Everyone except Tony liked the place.  He said he didn't want to have to worry about making a mess, wiping his feet.  However, he managed.  I managed.
I learned living with those guys to accept people's "bad habits" and not to let that stuff bother me. It was a whole lot of compromise. I also learned when you are the only girl in the house, to put the toilet seat back up... that way you always know you have to put it down before you sit.  It took many days of splashing to draw that conclusion. 

** if you want to participate you can answer in the comments or in your own journal.. but leave a link if you'd like to share it, so we can all read it.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't see how you survived. LOL

Anonymous said...

I went straight from living with my parents to living with my husband.  Its funny how different people are from when you visit them to when you actually live with them.  My future husband kept an immaculate appartment when we dated, but once we got married I guess he figured I was the new live-in maid.  To this day he still expects me to pick up his dishes after him.  When I lived at home, our house was a mess... all the time!  Now, when I visit, my parents clean up before I get there.  Isn't that funny how that works?

Anonymous said...

Dorn NO doubt!  It's funny my parent's house was always spotless and now it's a mess.. come to think of it though it was my job to clean!

Anonymous said...

There isn't much I would like to tell about this subject.  I moved out when I was 17 to live with a 26 year old boyfriend who was drunk and addicted to prescription narcotics.  It lasted a month before I moved back home.  The only good thing that came out of it was that I lost 20 lbs. because I moved outside of my school district and still had to walk to school.
I again moved out when I was 18 to live with a shady group of friends.  They were big time pot smokers and the girlfriend of one of the guys was an alcoholic.  That only lasted 2 months.  I didn't move out again until I was 20 and married.  
Unfortunately, these are memories better left for my private side.  Let's just say that I was young and incredibly stupid and thank God I didn't get involved with the things these "friends" were involved in.  Sheila

Anonymous said...

I lived with my wife before we were married, but it pales in comparison to an engine in the middle of the dining room! LOL that`s a great story!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't currently have a roommate, however once I let a friend who was going through a seperation with her husband, stay with me for a few weeks..It was interesting having her as a roommate, I learned a lot ( example, some people don't know the concept of cleaning up after them selves) She Eventually moved about 3 weeks and 2 days later..and I was happy. I learned that, I really do like my own space and privacy and Don't really wish to have a roommate.
~Nikki~

Anonymous said...

Done: http://journals.aol.com/glopsey/GlopseysJournalJar

Anonymous said...

I had one for a little while when I went to the state chess championship, and the guys took the glass out of the door (that little looking glass where I could see out and they couldn't see it), so my roommate and I had to find ways of dressing in there with things over the hole!!!

http://journals.aol.com/glopsey/GlopseysJournalJar

Anonymous said...

I used to live in a house with 4 other guys, when I was in my early 20's.
We played in a band and the house soon became a hang out for young women
everywhere.
I packed about 20 years of living in those couple of years. Thats probably why I
look to be in my 60's now.
It seemed like alot of fun at the time, playing music, being stoned all the time,
and violating women I didnt even know.
But now that I am in my mid 40's and my oldest girl is in high school,
Those years back then seemed pretty stupid.
And I am ashamed of alot of the things I did back then.
I would never want to go back and relive it.
RECLARKE44 aka   Steven

Anonymous said...

I never shared with anyone until I married.  I was quite happy to live with my Dad, he wasn`t strict and I came and went as I pleased. So I had all the comforts of home and all the freedom too!   Sandra x

Anonymous said...

As the saying goes, you don't really know someone, until you live them.  My best friend in the  turned into a monster when I stayed with her for a few weeks.  We got into a fight about my son, and there went the friendship.  I heard recently that she wanted to make things, lamps, windchimes, I don't know what with a body that was found in the Sand Pit.  Kinda scary, huh?  

Anonymous said...

getting there...
http://journals.aol.com/neemom1977/MyJournalJar/entries/1148

Anonymous said...

I lived with two guys when I was in college, one was my boyfriend at the time. We had a lot of fun. We were all pretty clean, there were no major disagreements, and everything went great. After I broke up with my boyfriend, those two remained roommates for quite a while. After college, I had a female roommate, and I realized I preferred having a male roommate! This chick was crazy, I really think she had multiple personality disorder. One day she would be so sweet and fun to be around and then she would be mean and hateful and do everything she could to make my life miserable! When I finally got my own place, I really appreciated having my own space and privacy.

Anonymous said...

My first room mate was my husband.
http://journals.aol.com/helmswondermom/LorisJournalJar/entries/204

Anonymous said...

http://journals.aol.com/newspirt/SandrasThoughts/entries/1111

Anonymous said...

The first roommates, Jesus that seems like ages ago. I decided as soon as I was "legal" 18 I was going to get my own place.  Well, needless to say 18 year olds aren't typically rolling in it so the need for roommates was a necessary evil.  I found this place in this neighborhood in Shreveport called Highland, beautiful drug infested, skanktastic people everywhere but the rent was cheap and the homes were beautiful.  They were old, old and huge with nothing but windows, and the tallest ceilings I have ever seen even to this day.  Most of these houses were 4000-6000 and up in square footage so a lot of owners made them into duplexes, which is what this house was.  O' it was great in the beginning.  We didn't have anything except the few things we each brought from home and the stuff my mother bought us because she felt sorry for us.  One of the girls, Lisa was one of my best friends from highschool so that was cool. The other girls name was Kim and she was just a random girl, weird from the word go, that we worked with.  Yep we all worked together at an answering service.  Lisa was a pig as far as cleanliness.  Kim was neurotic as hell.  I stayed with my boyfriend at the time as much as possible to avoid them both, lol. Kim would call and complain about Lisa, Lisa would call and complain about Kim and neither one of them had ever heard the word housecleaning, it was a foreign language, action to them, which left the chore to me and I barely slept there, lol.  All I really learned from that experience was that I didn't want another roommate and if I couldn't afford it on my own I didn't need to be on my own, lol.  I still talk to Lisa often, she actually just got married. Kim skipped town on us, thank God and the last I heard she was freakin out other people over in sunny Florida!!

Anonymous said...

http://journals.aol.com/unicornsteph80/Welcometomylife/entries/315
Oh what stories I could tell. Here is the short version. LOL
~Stephanie~

Anonymous said...

Here you go.
~~@Jade@~~
http://journals.aol.com/angelicregan75/APennyForYourThoughts/entries/127

Anonymous said...

# 6 I'm on a roll, an extra day off and I am remembering my past, what made me me - happy, sad, interesting, enlightening, funny! -thank you - I am really enjoying this  - Melissa

Anonymous said...

Yikes, I'd never want to live with 4 guys at once!!  

http://journals.aol.com/quartrlyfecrysis/andthensome/entries/241

xoxo~Bernadette

Anonymous said...

http://journals.aol.com/xxroxymamaxx/XXRoxyMamaXX/entries/1095

Shelly

Anonymous said...

http://journals.aol.com/devilletteinme/the-devilettes-journal-jar/entries/2006/11/18/roommates/529