We all know how complicated living with roommates can be, especially when you’re in your late-teens/early 20’s and still learning how to be an adult.
Regardless of whether you’re living with your best friend or a total stranger, disagreements will happen .
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Sometimes those little spats can escalate into full on brawls, without a clear indication of who’s at fault.
Those aren’t my dishes in the sink Cody, you’re the one who loves ketchup. Also seems like you love to play electric guitar at 3AM during exam season while everyone else in the house is trying to sleep, hmm?
Reddit user @Spirited_Desk and his roommate Taylor got along better than the best.
These college bros were fortunate enough to be roommates and friends. @Spirited_Desk would even text Taylor things like, “Hey, you up? Is it ok if I use the blender?”
Talk about good communication. To put it into perspective, my roommates would wear my shoes without asking first.
Tension began to rise when Taylor got behind on paying his half of the utilities bill, but @Spirited_Desk kept his cool.
Shared finances can get messy, so it’s always good to go right to the source and talk about it when something goes wrong rather than being passive aggressive and letting the annoyance stew until it explodes.
It may be true that Taylor ‘didn’t know’ that he still owed $70, but playing dumb is a pretty classic move to make in these types of situations.
Who, me? 70? Dollars? Owed? This is 100% the first time I’m hearing about this. Doesn’t ring a bell.
Time passed, and Taylor still hadn’t paid. @Spirited_Desk realized that he needed to confront his friend.
“Hey just a friendly reminder you still owe utilities,” he writes, “and I don’t want to get a passed due from the landlords when we are trying to lower the bill for this month.”
Taylor answered that he didn’t have enough to pay it.
He said that he was waiting to get paid.
We’ve all been there, but is it a valid reason, or a stupid excuse? It can really go either way.
Finally, @Spirited_Desk snapped. He had had enough.
“I would greatly appreciate it if you were mindful of paying utilities on the date they are due which is the same every month, the 1st, and planning accordingly” his text read .
“I send you the bill every time I get it and this is the second time this has happened in the last three months.”
You get a break for special circumstances, but twice in three months? The reddit user may have a point here.
“I don’t like having to text you about paying bills,” he continued.
But Taylor was adamant that he had a perfectly good reason to not be paying.
He explains in a less than friendly tone that he had to pay his mom’s water bill, since her landlord had shut it off.
“You’re right,” he continues, “I’ll just let her go without water next time”.
@Spirited_Desk was having none of it.
His response throws “friendly” right out the window and into the garbage several streets over:
Taylor, I pay all my bills and work my ass off. All I am asking is you plan and pay your bills so my credit score isn’t affected, not too much to ask.
“It’s frustrating to watch you buy multiple bottles of alcohol over the weekend and leave the price stickers on.”
The Redditer also cites eating out multiple times a week and buying unnecessary plants as areas in which Taylor is wasting the money that he should be using for bills.
“I pay my bills in full, and on time” he continues, “I suggest you do the same and stop making excuses”.
And then, Taylor dropped a truth bomb.
“Of course you wouldn’t understand” he writes back, “with your rich a** family and all your vacations and family homes everywhere”.
Does Taylor have a point? Should @Spirited_Desk be more empathetic to a circumstance that he could never understand?
Some people didn’t bat an eyelash to Taylor’s sob story. They agreed with @Spirited_Desk 100%.
Taylor was quickly dubbed a “mooch” and someone who resents his roomies rather than respecting them.
One Redditer even accused Taylor of lying about his mom
“It’s likely that the Mom bill thing is a lie as well” they wrote, “which is another battle you cannot win but probably shouldn’t try anyway”.
Using your mom to create a fake story? Bad move man.
The idea that Taylor was “playing the victim” was a popular opinion.
“This mentality is coupled with a ‘I can never admit to being wrong’ personality trait,” one person wrote, “I hate these people”.
Sometimes, you are the victim in a situation. But all the time? That sh*t get’s old real fast.
Surprisingly, others came to Taylor’s defense.
“There are so many systematic factors your’e completely ignoring,” someone writes , “predatory loans, inadequate education, incarceration, lack of access, dying industries, dead-end jobs, medical bills, lack of support, family crisis, ect”
“It’s easy to tell people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, especially if you’ve managed to do it yourself”
Do you think that Taylor has a valid reason, or that he’s just making excuses to not pay his utilities bill? Either way, I don’t think @Spirited_Desk will be singing anymore joint leases after this.
