You know what they say – if you don’t have an annoying friend in your clique… You might be the annoying friend! Luckily, this isn’t always true in student housing, but it makes you wonder, how do you know if you’re a bad roommate? Take this simple quiz and find out. Answer yes, no or sometimes for each question.
Bad Roommate Quiz
1. Do you complain a lot?
Complaining is human nature, but everyone is aware of how annoying it’s to be on the other end of a complaint. Are you usually nagging your roommates about the things they do or don’t do?
2. Have you ever used something that isn’t yours?
In some student housing setups, you’re close enough to your roommates to share things like food, clothing and toiletries. Are you one to overuse this trust by taking whatever you can get from your fellow housemates?
3. Are you often loud on weeknights or during study hours?
There’s nothing wrong with having fun every once in a while, but do you turn “every once in a while” into a frequent thing? Are you often blasting your music or having friends over in the night-time hours?
4. Do you forget to clean up after yourself… all the time?
Cleaning sucks, no one will argue with you on that. Unfortunately, when you’re sharing an apartment with other people, they have to suffer when you don’t want to clean up after yourself. Do you tend to leave your stuff all over the living room? Or leave food on the kitchen counter?
5. Do you have random friends in and out all of the time?
An important part of feeling “at home” in your apartment is feeling safe. Do you make your roommates uncomfortable by letting random people in and out of the apartment? Have your friends taken over your living room as the hangout spot?
RESULTS
If you answered mostly or only yes…
Yikes… you may have some work to do! No worries, nobody is a perfect roommate. Try to think about how you would feel if your roommates answered yes to the questions above. It might be kind of annoying. Next time you start to do something listed above, take a step back and try to find another way to handle the situation. It’s never too late to fix a roommate relationship.
If you answered mostly yes or sometimes…
You might not be the best roommate around… But that’s ok! There are things you can do to work on it. If you read something above and started shaking your head yes, knowing that you do it all the time, try cutting back. Think about how it may be affecting your fellow roommates and let them know that you’re going to work on it. If they’re good roommates themselves, they’ll be understanding and give you time to fix your issues.
If you answered mostly no or sometimes…
You’re probably a pretty cool roommate, but there are some things that you might be able to change. If you answered sometimes to one of the questions above and you know that it gets on your fellow roommates’ nerves, see if you can somehow change it. If you use your roommates’ stuff a lot, try asking them first or offering to replace what you’ve used. Simple changes like these can make all the difference.
If you answered mostly or only no…
You’re a great roommate! Keep up the good work and hey, maybe some of your good qualities will rub off on everyone else.
Are you a bad roommate? Do you agree or disagree with your result? What do you think makes a bad roommate? Let us know in the comment section below.
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