In My Roommate’s The Worst, we ask anonymous Washingtonians to share their horror stories of living with roommates who can sometimes (or always) suck. On Wednesdays, these snapshots of pettiness, passive-aggression, and downright bad behavior go on the internet. Have a good story? Email roommates@washingtonian.com.
Age at the time: 22
Occupation/title at the time: Student
Living situation: Six-bedroom, three-bathroom house
Neighborhood: South Arlington
Number of roommates: 5
Rent contribution: $750
What happened: We had a new random roommate move in, fleeing her previous one-bedroom apartment with an ex-boyfriend so even before her official move-in date we figured we were in for a rollercoaster ride. On the day she moved in we were introduced to the unexpected and unwelcome roommate: her cat.
Besides the fact that her cat being there could have had us evicted and one roommate had to start getting allergy shots to deal, her move-in process seemed to last in perpetuity. The house was covered in enough stuff for a very large family. Junk everywhere became business as usual so I just started accepting things lying around.
At the end of the first month I woke up in the morning and, half-awake, stumbled to the mold-infested dilapidated bathroom that four of us shared. (Side note: the bathroom accumulated a new smell when she moved in that the other roommates and I could never figure out or get rid of.) As I walked through the small hallway, my foot bumped one of the tied-up bags that had been sitting there since she moved in. Vaguely annoyed, I picked it up to determine if it was something I could throw in her room or just go ahead and toss. I opened it to reveal a large bag of cat poop.
A bag of cat poop had been sitting in the hallway for an entire month.
I walked it outside and deposited it in the trash before taking my shower. Five months of daily surprises later, I finally got the hell out of dodge and found far less disgusting roommates.
