Common Sense

[Calienta]

How do some people lack it so severely?

My brother moved out in January to live closer to school with a friend of his. They rented out two rooms to guys their own age who answered the ad.

Since then it's been nothing but trouble. They have friends over at all hours and make lots of noise. They leave ashes all over the tables, washing machine, kitchen, never do their dishes, basically leave the house a disaster.

One of them has gotten so mad he's punched a hole in the wall TWICE, and hasn't fixed either yet. They are always late with their rent.

So my brother and his friend have decided to give them one month to shape up or get out. This is the list he made for them ...

My question is, is this not all common sense or what? Why do people not UNDERSTAND that these things are just a given when you share a house with other people? Would you know to follow all these rules?

And yes, he's added on the last three. I burst out laughing at work when I read them and my boss asked what I shrieked for :hidey:

- Pay rent/ bills on time and in full
- Keep kitchen, living room, bathroom, laundry room clean all the time, even if it’s your friends that contribute to the mess.
- Buy essential items when it’s your turn, i.e. milk, toilet paper, condiments…
- Fix damage that has been done to the house by either yourselves or your friends… holes in the walls, stair banister, bathroom cabinet
- Reduce the amount of time you have friends over
- No unnecessary noise after 11pm, i.e. yelling, banging on walls…
- No running around pool
- No climbing on the play structure after dark
- Do not talk to or take candy from strangers

[Zeus]

Thats why I live by myself, no one to bitch at but myself. :D

[Calienta]

Yeah that's why I don't want to live with anyone else either lol. But honestly, how stupid are people? To me those things are just obvious and common courtesy.

[Zeus]

Also the ladies really like it when they know you live by yourself on your own :heybabe:

[I Got Priors]

Common sense isn't as common as you would think.

[Calienta]

Yeah, so it would seem. I guess some people are just a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

[hoos]

Well it's people (like my roommate) who are used to their mom or someone else cleaning and doing everything domestic for them. My roommate is finally cleaning his room. I think the 1st or 2nd time this semester. And by cleaning I mean, picking up the clothes off the floor, bed, dresser, chair and anywhere else he throws it. He had a 1 foot thick layer of clothes on his bed for the past 2 weeks, so he sleeps on the couch every night. It's pretty ridiculous and not to mention he's probably uncomfortable since he's sleeping on a couch. It's very irritating, but then again, he's not the brightest bulb in the box so....

[Duffman]

Also the ladies really like it when they know you live by yourself on your own :heybabe:



i live my mother and 3 sisters and i do pretty damn good for myself... think u just need to work on ur pick up lines mate lol

[Calienta]

Well it's people (like my roommate) who are used to their mom or someone else cleaning and doing everything domestic for them. My roommate is finally cleaning his room. I think the 1st or 2nd time this semester. And by cleaning I mean, picking up the clothes off the floor, bed, dresser, chair and anywhere else he throws it. He had a 1 foot thick layer of clothes on his bed for the past 2 weeks, so he sleeps on the couch every night. It's pretty ridiculous and not to mention he's probably uncomfortable since he's sleeping on a couch. It's very irritating, but then again, he's not the brightest bulb in the box so....

Yeah but I mean, punching a hole through a wall TWICE and not bothering to fix it? They broke the cabinet in the bathroom and the bannister on the stairs and neither have owned up to it so far. That's a bit much!

And Duff - you wouldn't be able to bring a girl back to your place at any time though :P

[Drunken Monk]

Common sense isn't as common as you would think.

Well yeah, that's the irony i suppose. Still in context, some people are just inconsiderate rather than lacking common sense. Unless they're absolute idiots, they could just not be caring a damn about what they do to your brothers' house. I mean even with my loose sense of morals and sexual promiscuity, I'd realise I did something wrong if I punched a whole through the wall :hehe:

[Duffman]

And Duff - you wouldn't be able to bring a girl back to your place at any time though :P


wanna put money on that lol

[steff]

Duff you're supposed to say "Wanna test that :heybabe:" lol

I'm totally dependent on my mum still but before I moved out I'd learn a few tricks.

[Duffman]

nah i need the money more haha my mum dont do shit for me all she does is give me a place to stay and i gota pay her £200 a month for that privilage....fucking rip-off merchant lol

[steff]

£50 a month and I get the works. :) I just sing the "poor student" song. :D

[hoos]

Yeah rach, the whole 'Hole in the wall' proves they are douchebags. Who knows if they have common sense are not, that's not the issue. The issue is their douchebaggery and how they have a lot of it.

[Tca]

I have 8 holes in my door and 2 in my wall, i don't think that proves anything more of that then having an issue with anger, detracting from the original topic, but even then, this house is owned and i still plan to fix them all before i go anywhere, plus i wouldn't punch holes in rented places at all.

Back on track, somebody has already touched on it, some people really don't have common sense, they expect that everyone either lives like them or that somebody else will clean up for them. My old friend used to be able utter slob and i used to goto his house and wonder how someone could live like that, but his mum always used to get in and clean up his shit for him, i asked him one day, why don't you keep your shit clean by yourself, he is like "why?"

To answer the original post, i think alot of people are lacking in common sense :cheeky: thank fuck for anyone i ever plan to live with that im a neat freak :giggle:

[DnD]

I'll admit, my place gets pretty outrageous at times, especially on the weekends, lol. But i dont break stuff, and i pay my share of the rent.

if I had roomies like that, I'd leavem a boot and a dildo on the front porch and a note "you get the boot so go fuck yourself"

[Drunken Monk]

To answer the original post, i think alot of people are lacking in common sense :cheeky: thank fuck for anyone i ever plan to live with that im a neat freak :giggle:

I have OCD. :grin:

[Tca]

I have OCD. :grin:

i probably do as well to be honest lol

[Drunken Monk]

i probably do as well to be honest lol

Best way to tell is to get a child around the age of six to come into your room and touch everything. Then come back when they're done and see how many things you notice are out of place haha. If you notice more than 5 items that have been moved, congratulations, you have OCD!

Another way to tell is if you HATE putting beverages on glass table tops without coasters or some sort of seperation between the bottle and the glass! Drives me mental!:blink:

[DnD]

Best way to tell is to get a child around the age of six to come into your room and touch everything. Then come back when they're done and see how many things you notice are out of place haha. If you notice more than 5 items that have been moved, congratulations, you have OCD!

Another way to tell is if you HATE putting beverages on glass table tops without coasters or some sort of seperation between the bottle and the glass! Drives me mental!:blink:


Lol, If you were my roomate, I bet I'd drive you to neatly hang yourself in less than six months.

[Drunken Monk]

Lol, If you were my roomate, I bet I'd drive you to neatly hang yourself in less than six months.

Haha well I have the kind of OCD where sometimes I'm a total neat freak and at other times I'm a total slob! But I bet I could get you to conform to some of my more particular traits. I mean come on!! Putting a coaster under the bottle should be "common sense" really! Isn't that what this whole thread is about anyway? :hehe:

[I Got Priors]

My sister has OCD bad. Whenever I go to her house I moved things subtly. Her pantries are PERFECT..labels facing the same direction and in order by food type. I will turn the labels around, move the sugar to the flour and slightly turn her knick knacks. She notices immiedietly in mid conversation and corrects everything I have moved. We tried living together once and it didnt work out so well. I would come home from work and my whole room was cleaned. She'd throw things out she believed I didnt need or shouldnt have and it would drive me crazy!
When looking for a roomate I think common sense would dictate that you sit down and discuss your living styles BEFORE moving in together to make sure you are on the same page. :unsure:

[Calienta]

When looking for a roomate I think common sense would dictate that you sit down and discuss your living styles BEFORE moving in together to make sure you are on the same page. :unsure:

They did sit down and chat. The guys said they were really clean, didn't like to party too hard, etc etc. Then it all changed.

[TJ60]

Punching walls doesn't achieve anything, my brother spent the night one weekend a few months back. We stayed up playing cards and drinking, well they everybody got drunk but me:grin: His gf was done for the night so he took her into the guest room laid her down, thats when she proceded to bite the shit out of his shoulder. He punched the wall instead of her and I grabbed him by his damn throat for fucking my wall up. If I hadn't seen the blood dripping off his shoulder, he would have been picking his teeth up off the floor.

Maybe your brother and his friend need to be a little more stern with their approach. Play each other up as psyco's or something.:hehe: Just walk into their room when their sleeping holding a pair of scissors and just stare at them.

[Calienta]

LOL. My brother has been yelling his head off at them for the past three months ... He's at the end of his rope lol. I told him when they leave their ashes all over the place he should dump them in their beds. Leave their dirty dishes under the sheets - that kind of stuff.

[Drunken Monk]

We tried living together once and it didnt work out so well. I would come home from work and my whole room was cleaned. She'd throw things out she believed I didnt need or shouldnt have and it would drive me crazy!

I have the kind of OCD where i NEVER throw anything out! I'd much rather settle it neatly and keep it somewhere secure. I have letters and things I've drawn from when i was 5! Haha. Hmm maybe you and i should move in together? :hehe:

[DnD]

Haha well I have the kind of OCD where sometimes I'm a total neat freak and at other times I'm a total slob! But I bet I could get you to conform to some of my more particular traits. I mean come on!! Putting a coaster under the bottle should be "common sense" really! Isn't that what this whole thread is about anyway? :hehe:

I actually have a rather expansive coaster collection. I always bring them home from different bars. It's common sense that one should never have to pay for coasters =)

[Drunken Monk]

I actually have a rather expansive coaster collection. I always bring them home from different bars. It's common sense that one should never have to pay for coasters =)

I feel a connection here DnD..do you? :cheeky:

[Tca]

Best way to tell is to get a child around the age of six to come into your room and touch everything. Then come back when they're done and see how many things you notice are out of place haha. If you notice more than 5 items that have been moved, congratulations, you have OCD!

Another way to tell is if you HATE putting beverages on glass table tops without coasters or some sort of seperation between the bottle and the glass! Drives me mental!:blink:

if ANYONE touches shit in my room, i fix it if it isn't placed EXACTLY how it was, everything has its place, fucking pricks tryna mess my shit up :argh:

also, yes, no coasters under beverages on glass tables drives me bonkers, i could lose the plot at people for not putting a coaster under them :argh: any kind of table with me though, if there is a drink on a table, it HAS to have a coaster under it lol

also, cam connects with everyone :P lol cam is one of those connecty type guys lol

[DnD]

if ANYONE touches shit in my room, i fix it if it isn't placed EXACTLY how it was, everything has its place, fucking pricks tryna mess my shit up :argh:

also, yes, no coasters under beverages on glass tables drives me bonkers, i could lose the plot at people for not putting a coaster under them :argh: any kind of table with me though, if there is a drink on a table, it HAS to have a coaster under it lol

also, cam connects with everyone :P lol cam is one of those connecty type guys lol

hah! I'm like a lego block or something :D

[odd th0mas]

I actually have a rather expansive coaster collection. I always bring them home from different bars. It's common sense that one should never have to pay for coasters =)

i bring the pint glasses home from bars. :beerchug:

i never gave coasters much thought until now, and that surprises me cause i'm highly anal when it comes to being tidy. we don't even own coasters!

[Tca]

i steal pool balls and ashtrays mostly

which is suprising, as we don't have a pool table OR any smokers in the house lol

[odd th0mas]

i steal pool balls and ashtrays mostly

which is suprising, as we don't have a pool table OR any smokers in the house lol

lmao!

i bet ya even call the shot. "8-ball...coat pocket!"

[Tca]

lmao!

i bet ya even call the shot. "8-ball...coat pocket!"

lol :O im SO gonna call that next time lol :P cheers :D

[DnD]

i bring the pint glasses home from bars. :beerchug:

i never gave coasters much thought until now, and that surprises me cause i'm highly anal when it comes to being tidy. we don't even own coasters!

I take the pint glasses too haha. My freezer is aboslutely packed with frosty mugs. There's not even room for food. lol!

[Drunken Monk]

I take the pint glasses too haha. My freezer is aboslutely packed with frosty mugs. There's not even room for food. lol!

I used to work at a restaurant/bar sort of place once and i used to do inventory. This place had just come up so they only had security cameras in the actual restaurant, not in the back rooms. Everytime they asked me to shift a box of Stella or Becks, I'd sneak a few bottles into my bag pack, and put the rest into the freezer. I used to work there every weekend, and every weekend i came home with about 12 bottles of nice smooth beer :grin: I want to work there again!! Hehe.

[Smash Bros]

talking about OCD i hate the level of music/tv or whatever to be on an odd number. it has to be even.


and the other thing that drives me crazy is the toilet paper being around teh wrong way. :glare: fuck that annoys me.

[Tca]

i can't stand odd numbers either, particulary number 7, i fucking HATE that one in particular

which way does your toilet paper have to face? it has to be the part you pull the toilet paper off facing to the front, or i MUST turn it around, even at friends houses lol

edit - how did a thread about common sense turn into an OCD convention? lol

[Calienta]

No idea lol. Complete hijack!

[Drunken Monk]

how did a thread about common sense turn into an OCD convention? lol

I'm sorry, I brought that one up :hidey:

But can't one argue that OCD is a form of common sense? :P

No, joking, that's going to continue the hi-jack. Rachel, apology accepted? I'll give you a lolly? :huggy:

[Calienta]

Sure, no worries. I'll have a red one please!

[Smash Bros]

i can't stand odd numbers either, particulary number 7, i fucking HATE that one in particular

which way does your toilet paper have to face? it has to be the part you pull the toilet paper off facing to the front, or i MUST turn it around, even at friends houses lol

edit - how did a thread about common sense turn into an OCD convention? lol

so that it comes off of teh top. not so that it is at the back and you have to rip it off at the bottom to get it. grrrr :@

and 7 is my lucky number yet i hate odd numbers :eh:


and another thing i didnt mention. fucking dripping taps they piss me off.

[steff]

They piss people without OCD off too lol. At least I don't think I have OCD. :P

[Smash Bros]

apperently it is a mild form of OCD :P

[DnD]

OCD sounds terrible lol. Good thing its not contagious :P

[Tca]

lol hijacked again :cheeky:

yea ben, i think thats just a general annoyance though, like steff says lol

another thing that i can't STAND, blinking lights, they drive me nuts, little green blinking lights :argh:

[Smash Bros]

rofl. nah the flickering lights when they are about to go out.

[Tca]

they scare me :hidey:

i just don't like blinkering green lights lol

[steff]

I have an irrational hatred towards green in general, does that count? :P

[Tca]

lol no

hey, thats scary, maybe its linked steff :O why i don't like green blinkering lights lol :P

[Stinger]

Common sense is something I believe that people, unfortunately, find relevant only in certain situations. *lol* Roommates are typically inconsiderate at best, and downright rude at times, and even combative at still other times...especially when confronted about household chores and such.

I think it is difficult enough to have one person share your space, when guidelines, morals, and ethics are similar, but add in two or three people instead, with possibly conflicting beliefs regarding hygiene and cleanliness, and you have the potential for extreme chaos. As in your brother's example, the rules were obviously not established and mandated in the very beginning, with a list of delegated chores being given to each member of the household to be maintained.

Of course, none of this makes his predicament any less aggravating, and hopefully his little "list" will relieve some of the pressure he is faced with in regards to this particular dilemma. My guess is that he will be looking for new roommates soon though. Because the behavior has been tolerated thus far, they likely will not believe he is serious, or that he will follow through with any consequences for their actions.

[Calienta]

Update to the roommates. Bear in mind that Nick is my brother whose name is on the lease, and Sean is his friend whose name is also on the lease.



Phone rings at 2am last night.

ME: (staggers into the kitchen to answer it before it wakes everyone else up) (groggily) Hello?
MAN: Good evening.
ME: Good evening??!
MAN: I'm sorry to probably wake you up, but this is George McMullan, Sean's dad.
ME: Oh! Hi ...
GEORGE: I've been trying to reach Nick but I can't.
ME: Okay ...
GEORGE: It's about those two roommates they have living with them, we need to kick them out.
ME: How come you have to do it tonight?
GEORGE: Because they were doing cocaine tonight at the house and we need them gone. Like, by midnight.
ME: (looks at the clock thinking, two hours too late genius) Holy crap. Okay, well call the police then.
GEORGE: No, no police.
ME: Why not?
GEORGE: When you involve the police ... it turns you into ... a victim.
ME: Why would it turn you into a victim?
GEORGE: It just does. I'm not calling the police.
ME: Okay, then how else do you suggest you do it? These guys are likely to be violent.
GEORGE: These friends of Nick's have to go.
ME: They're not Nick's friends, they answered an ad that Nick and Sean placed.
GEORGE: Okay. Well they have to go tonight. Is Nick okay with them going?
ME: Yes, he's been wanting them gone for a long time.
GEORGE: Then we have to find a way to get them out.
ME: Well with the work my dad does, he knows a lot of police officers, I'm sure he could just call them and get something worked out.
GEORGE: Your dad? Is this Nick's sister?
ME: Yes.
GEORGE: What's your name?
ME: Rachel.
GEORGE: I was hoping to speak with your parents.
ME: They're sleeping.
GEORGE: Well, I'd really like to talk to them about this.
ME: I'm not waking them up, I know exactly what they'll tell you and it's to call the police.
GEORGE: Well, they're Nick's friends so he should come and do it.
ME: Hey, wait a second. I just said they're NOT Nick's friends, they answered a friggin' ad. Nick has been trying to get them to smarten up and to be perfectly blunt, Sean hasn't done a damn thing to help him.
GEORGE: Look, I don't want to fight with you, I have no beef with you, Rachel. Just let me talk to your parents.
ME: (derisive laugh) Fine.



So I went in to wake my parents up - told my Dad the essence of the conversation including George calling them Nick's friends.

Dad comes to the phone, it is now 2:20am.

DAD: Hello.
DAD: Marcel.
DAD: So they're doing coke?
DAD: Just call the police.
DAD: If they're doped up they're probably violent and they may have a weapon so your best bet is to just call the police.
DAD: And what is this I hear you telling Rachel about them being Nick's friends? They're not Nick's friends, they answered an ad. Nick didn't know them, Sean didn't know them. And you know your son Sean doesn't have much of a backbone, buddy.
DAD: No, we're not coming over at this time. Do it tomorrow.
DAD: Well if you insist on doing it tonight, make sure you don't continue if they get threatening and just call 911.
DAD: Okay, bye. (hangs up)
DAD: (to us) He says they're not letting the guys back in the house. They're outside on the porch.

We went down to wake up Nick and tell him what was going on. He said good riddance and went back to sleep lol. My brother Scott wanted to go and 'deal with them', lol, but he got a concussion from Rugby that day and had just gotten back from the hospital 3 hours before so we wouldn't let him go. I said we could take Brittain and she could scare them off :P

We still don't know what happened! Nick plans to go today to check it out.

Excitement!

[Smash Bros]

ohhh thje drama.

let us know what happens.

and then sell the story and make a drama series out of it lol. that seems to be like every other drama show in aussie lol

[Grendel]

I think I'd be a nightmare roommate for some of you... I'm not especially untidy or inconsiderate, but coasters? Making sure that the volume is on an even number?

You're just weird!

[Tca]

I think I'd be a nightmare roommate for some of you... I'm not especially untidy or inconsiderate, but coasters? Making sure that the volume is on an even number?

You're just weird!

volume, channels, lights etc

[Smash Bros]

channels i can handle.

but channel 7 (prime) has to be on ch7 for me. and win (9) has to be on 9 lol

[Tca]

meh ish

win is 8

prime is 2

on the rare occasions i watch peasent tv :P

[Smash Bros]

:O i have to have 10 on 8 :P

and abc on 2