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This is the first post in what will be a five-part series on dealing with roommate issues. While having a roommate — and thus dealing with roommate discrepancies — is something that’s familiar to most college grads, when you’re on your own in the real world (and are dealing with real world issues), any discrepancies seem to be magnified at least ten-fold. Today I’ll try and tackle issue number one: Messiness.

photo credit: miss pupik

Messiness is a common dorm room problem - in fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a college dorm room that isn’t at least a little messy. But all too often, graduates bring their messy habits into post-grad apartments with them. If you find your roommates clothes piling up in the living room, their dirty dishes sitting for days in the sink, or their toothpaste seeping out all over the sink don’t panic and don’t throw their clothes out onto the front lawn. Begin by letting your messy roommate know that their behavior isn’t cool with you; as with every problem — big or small — the two (or more) of you have - communication is the most important key to long-term success. After all, if you don’t tell them, your roommate may not even know that this behavior annoys you.

If the reverse is true and you’re the messy roommate, remember to be respectful of your roommates’ space and your shared common space. You’ll soon learn that, just like your dorm room, space in your new apartment is all too limited. Pick up and clean up after yourself and hopefully you’ll get the same service in return from your roommates.

Stay tuned tomorrow for part two.

Technorati Tags: roommates, real world, apartments, renting, college, graduation, mediation

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