Saturday, September 5, 2009

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

I live with two roomies, a couple, GuyRoomie (Approx. 35yrs old, divorced 2 kids), and GirlRoomie (25 not quite divorced yet, no kids). And they are SLOBS.

I've been gone for 4 months. You'd think they would've cleaned the downstairs bathroom at least once while I was gone. No such luck. There was actually MOLD growing in the toilette. Freakin disgusting.

Since I've gotten home, I've spent a lot of time cleaning. Now I'm not a neat freak by any means. I have a small bedroom and it tends to be a bit cluttered. I can be untidy, I leave my school stuff and jacket lying around from time to time. I am not DIRTY however. While I can live with clutter and untidiness I cannot live with DIRT. Dirt is my enemy.

So the Roomies are at the cottage all week which means that thankfully they are not undoing all of my cleaning efforts. However, they have neglected some things far too long (ie downstairs bathroom.) In fact I was horrified when I opened the dishwasher on Tuesday to find it full of dirty dishes. They left for the cottage on Sunday. SERIOUSLY!?!? Who leaves the house for a week and leaves dirty dishes in the dishwasher?!? And not just a few cups and a plate, no it was FULL. It was ready to be turned on, just needed some soap and turn the dial. Like WTF people? What the hell is wrong with you?

Since I've been home I have cleaned my room, which my Roomies thoughtfully left open to the two cats for the past 4 months (I'm allergic btw), the downstairs bathroom (which I am the primary user of) and the kitchen (including the microwave which I don't think has EVER been cleaned,) the stovetop and the floor. I would very much like to tackle the oven (freakin gross man!) but I lack any EasyOff at the moment, and the fridge but I'm afraid if I throw anything out the Roomies will get mad at me. And I'd like to tackle the front room, but unfortunately the big table which is in there is covered in their stuff and I have no idea where to put it.

So I have a dilemma. I want to talk to the Roomies about this. About how it's driving me nuts and how I seem to be the one doing major clean up every month or so because they can't be bothered to just do a little bit every day and how I'm not the one who cooks and leaves food out (they left food int he crockpot for a week once, A WEEK!), or dirty dishes etc. I'm not the one who piles boxes of empty beer bottles on the back porch, and I'm not the one who forgets EVERY WEEK to put the garbage and recycling out. And don't even get me started on the state of the back yard! (You remember in Jumanji when the vines and trees start growing in the house like everywhere? THAT'S what the backyard looks like!)

However, GirlRoomie owns the house. It's her house and I'm just a tenant. It's probably not kosher for me to tell her how to live in her own house. But the honest truth of it is that I don't know how much longer I can stand this and I may have to move out if things don't improve. And I know how much she likes my rent money. In addition to that, their uncleanliness is going to make them and me literally SICK. Not to mention GuyRoomie's kids that spend the weekend here every so often. There is MOLD in places where there shouldn't be MOLD. We have an ANT problem (duh). And there are so many DUST BUNNIES and cat hair TUMBLEWEEDS around I want to wear shoes all the time. Not to mention that the cats track kitty litter granules all over the place. It's GROSS! I HATE IT!

How do I bring this up tactfully without pissing them off? How do I get my point across without flying into a rage? I cannot just let it go and do nothing! I will go insane!

4 comments:

  1. I know exactly how you are feeling right now. I went through this situation not too long ago and am still going through it to some degree.

    This wasn't my place, but I was sharing it. I am not the type of person to just let things slide or be looked over, especially cleanliness in the house. It's other people's living space too, so everyone should be a part of cleaning it up. I suggested to my roommates making a cleaning schedule and having one clean up once a week or something like that. It didn't stick, and we actually ended up kicking out one of our roommates. Things have marginally improved, but when you only live with one other person it's easier to identify who's mess belongs to who.

    A friend of mine suggested to me to keep my own bedroom spotless and that it would make it easier to live in a dirty house. I think if you are having major concerns and are even concerned about moving, you should talk to female roomie one on one about it. If she doesn't like it, that's not your problem. You have to do what is in your best interest. You are paying to live somewhere, not in a rat hole or a garbage dumpster.

    I wish you the best of luck!

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  2. if you are not on a lease - just simply say that you can not live in this unsanitary situation for health reasons (she must know you already have allergies) or you can just out and out lie and say that your allergies are getting worse form the cats and bye bye

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  3. How about moving out and looking for another place? Geesh, you're living with a couple of insensitive creatures there. I feel for you.

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  4. I love this! Went through the same thing! Eventualyy I told them to shove it, now Im so much happier walking into a place where I feel at home! Good luck

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