We’ve all heard the stories of the dreaded roommate: getting stuck with some weirdo or someone you just can’t stand.
But what if your roommate isn’t the issue, what happens when it’s your suitemates or your neighbors who are causing the problems?
It can be a difficult situation dealing with those whom you share space with or even the other half of a wall. Even if you don’t share a room with the person (or persons), if your suitemates are loud, obnoxious, dirty, too clean or whatever, your problems may be just as bad.
If any of the following situations sound like a problem you’ve been dealing with, we may have the solution!
Your neighbors are constantly making noise
If you are stuck next to a group of people who blast their television into the night, play loud music when it’s not appropriate, or make noise when you are trying to studying or sleep, this could be a problem.
I was stuck next to a group of guys who were “the guys” on the floor. They had everyone over for pre-games, poker nights, video game tournaments, and watching the games; you name it, our neighbors did it.
So you can imagine how much noise was constantly coming through the wall into our room.
The solution was actually rather simple; we ended up heading over one night after many invitations to do so and had a great time with them. Once we all got to know each other, it was easy to walk over and ask them to turn down the music or take the party down a notch when we were studying or trying to sleep.
While not everyone is as cool as those guys, you should always try to be friendly before being jerks. If you ask politely, most people will respond politely and respect your wishes.
Of course, if you ask nicely and nothing comes of it, you will obviously have to either ask again in a not-very-nice way, OR talk to your RA and have the situation sorted out.
Your suitemates are too dirty or too clean
You may be thinking, too clean? How is it possible to be too clean? I will tell you that it is definitely possible as I shared a bathroom with a clean-FREAK my junior year who would flip out if a hair was on the ground.
Of course, it can go both ways too; maybe you are sharing a bathroom or common area with a bunch of pigs; whatever the issues, you need to talk to each other to solve the problem.
Divide up the chores so no one is left doing all or none of them. Use a white board and place it in the common area so everyone knows when their week to clean is coming up. Put check marks next to the things that have been done so everyone can see what has or hasn’t been completed.
I must warn you though; even with the white board in the bathroom, our psycho suitemate would head into the bathroom at all hours of the day or night and begin cleaning crazily. She would talk loudly to her roommates about how messy we all were in what I can only assume, were hopes of us hearing the conversation…which we did….everyday.
Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that some people will never be happy with what you give them and chalk it up to another freakish college experience.
Your neighbor is super sexually active
This can be awkward for all parties involved. Whether your neighbor is aware of the fact that you are now privy to his/her sexual escapades or not, no one should be made to feel uncomfortable or weirded-out in their own living space.
My sophomore year was spent with my bed against a wall I shared with a particularly sexually active girl.
I would come back from class, swing my books onto the floor, flop into bed, reach for the remote and then I’d hear the moaning. But it wasn’t just that: the bed creaked, and squeaked and made a bunch of other really weird sounds as she and her boyfriend did their thang (now picture me, slowly crumbling into my covers while pulling the pillow over my head in disgust.).
While it was funny at first, this went on all the time, sometimes multiple times a day. While I was too embarrassed to say anything, what you should do in this situation is approach the person on a humorous level.
Don’t attack your neighbor and call him/her a dirty (insert name here), simply explain that you heard him/her “having a good time earlier” and that the two of your share a wall. Turn this awkward situations into a joke and hopefully, your neighbor will take the hint and stop hooking up on your side of the wall.
If he/she still doesn’t take the hint, try knocking on the wall while they’re doing the deed and letting them know that you are there and you don’t want to hear it. If all else fails, talk to your RA about the problem and see what can be done.
