Abby Connolly
Have you ever lived with more than one roommate in an apartment or dorm and felt it was impossible to keep the place clean because you couldn’t keep up with their messes?
One young woman recently had to stop trying to keep her dorm suite spotless after her two roommates refused to do their part. Now, they’re blaming their messy dorm entirely on her.
She’s 19 and living in a suite-style dorm with two roommates, Tiana and Cara. Their dorm has two double bedrooms, a bathroom, a living area, and a kitchen. They used to have a fourth roommate, Rachel, but she moved out a while back.
When Rachel was still living with them, they had a good dynamic. Everyone was responsible for cleaning their bedrooms but split chores regarding the common areas. They also took turns buying items like toilet paper, paper towels, etc.
She and her roommates had similar academic and social lives and values. When it came to cleaning and upkeeping their dorm, Tiana and Cara were the messier roommates. They’d leave dishes in the sink and garbage in the common areas. However, since she and Rachel were much cleaner, it was never too much of an inconvenience.
“Since it was two on two, Rachel and I could also remind them when it was their turn to buy something,” she said.
“So we had a balance at the start of the year. The problem started a few months ago when Rachel moved out. I picked up a lot of her slack, but since the dynamic shifted to two-on-one, it’s been a lot harder to keep a consistent cleaning routine. I’ve also had an insanely busy second semester.”
Whenever she tries to ask Tiana and Cara to keep up with their chores, they get defensive and tell her to do them if she’s unhappy with the state of their dorm.
Since she’s only gotten busier over the last few weeks, she’s stopped contributing to their chores so much. She’s only stuck to cleaning her room and her things.
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