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I'm beginning to think I was wrong about my last roommates being as bad as it could get. My apartment complex rents out 4 bedroom apartments by the room; that is, each room is separately leased. We all pay the same amount of rent and share a kitchen, living room, and laundry room. One of my roommates has lived here a year longer than I, and somebody let her by all the furniture for the common areas. The couch, coffeetables, endtables, kitchen tables, everything. They also let her decorate everything. So, she assumes the common areas are simply an extension of her bedroom. No one else is allowed to use any of the furniture without risking her wrath. (Note that there isn't ROOM for us to bring in our own.) Not long after I moved in, she put up a note asking everyone to stop making a mess in the kitchen, she had spent a lot of time and money making it look nice. Her definition of "mess" is crumbs, a cup left in the sink, etc. She even put up one of those "Basic Training" signs intended for employees, which I find extremely offensive. She also was very upset that her appliances were being used. The kitchen counters are covered with her stuff, include a coffeemaker that's never been used and a bottle of 409 (she sanitizes the kitchen several times a day, and once put up a note asking everybody to use it to wipe up crumbs). Not only is there no room for anyone else to have appliances, but she told me when I first moved in that we all shared appliances and kitchen chores. I used her blender and cleaned it out; she threw a fit. She is a self-admitted compulsive shopper, and had to purchase a standalone cabinet and extra shelves to hold various appliances, a huge spice rack, and bunches of jars and containers of utensils (how many spatulas does one need?) I should note also that she hardly ever cooks. She buys these things in order to claim ownership of the kitchen.
She recently slid a note under my door asking me to stop expecting her to clean up my crumbs (I do--I guess she can see invisible "mess"), and saying "Pretty much everything in the apartment is MINE. If you want I'll give you a tour of what is mine and what isn't. Don't touch stuff that isn't yours." I wrote a LONG note back reminding her I paid equal rent, assuring her that cloth handtowels won't bring roaches (she kept throwing mine in the laundry room because it was "dirty"), and pointing out that I had all my own cooking supplies, and didn't need to touch anything else. I also said I was sick of the notes, and if she had something to say
All the same, my previous roommates were much more childish--I thought--and would gather outside my door and make fun of me. And there were three of them. But what happened today officially made my current roommate much worse.
I had washed my hands and was emptying the dishwasher when I grabbed a handful of silverware and felt something slimy slide down my hand. At first I thought I must have gotten soap or something on the silverware, but it was clear, not blue, and slightly sticky. I realized with horror it was saliva. She must have opened the dishwasher, spit on the silverware rack, and locked it again so I wouldn't notice. I'm glad I got to it before it dried on them, but now I'm really disgusted and very worried about having my food and dishes out there. It disgusts me that she would do something like that.
I've been ignoring her antics, believing that confronting her wouldn't be worth my trouble. Now, though, I'm worried about my health. I feel really paranoid about her sabotaging or trying to contaminate my things.
By the way, this is only my fourth month here. Both of us will be here for eight more months. I have a 12-month contract I won't be able to get out of.
What do you guys think? Should I confront her about the spit? What if I'm wrong, or if she denies it? That won't help me. I don't have money to compete with her by buying things for the apartment. I've been trying to subtly drive her mad by doing my own thing in the common areas and trying to forget that she'll come out soon as I'm done and sanitize. I guess it's working if she's spitting on things, but that's not what I had in mind.
Oh, and if you'd like to rant about roommate troubles, go right ahead.
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