I Know I Was Asking For It

Back in December I was looking for a new roommate. A seemingly normal guy rented the room in January. He seemed like such a sweet guy… who knew he would turn out to be dumb as a post! I referred to him as the kid because he always seemed so young even though he was 25.

A few things should have tipped me off:
- He slept till 4:00 pm, got up, sat in front of MY TV until about midnight at which point he would go out, often bringing guests home around 3:00 am and chat loudly in the living room until 5:00 am.
- He would ask the most bizarre questions. One day he asked me if a box in my kitchen (which contained a bottle of wine) was an urn with a dead person’s ashes in it.
- Every day he would use my computer without asking me and thought I didn’t know. Since he was obviously Mac illiterate he always left the web browser open without realizing it. Plus, he didn’t know how to turn the computer off.
- About a week after he moved in he told me he was giving his notice. Of course, I freaked and asked him why. He told me he got fired from his job and was too embarrassed to live here. I asked him if he couldn’t afford to live here or if it was just an issue of pride. He told me it was pride so I gave him a little pep talk about not running away from your fears, owning up to your responsibilities, etc. He thanked me and said he was glad I was so understanding and was happy to stay. A week later he got a new job.
- Then, on January 31 I come home to find a letter addressed to me. It was from the kid and essentially said: “Can’t afford to live here. To embarrassed to tell you in person so I moved out”. I was livid! Our agreement was to give me one month’s notice so he technically owed me for the month of February. An hour or so later he came back. Apparently, when his Mom found out that he had left without facing me, she made him come back and apologise. He told me he would pay me the money he owed me in two weeks as he was getting paid then.

Luckily I found a new roommate the very next day and all is well. I was about to send him an email saying, don’t worry about the money, I’ve found someone to rent the room, but decided I would wait the two weeks and let him sweat it out a bit. The kid needs to learn that he can’t just walk away from his responsibilities.

Two weeks come and go and still no call or email so I decide to send him an email requesting my money. He responds back saying he doesn’t have any money, as he will only get paid on March 7. He doesn’t even have money for food and has been going to the local food bank. The excuse is total bullshit! I believe that he doesn’t have money to spare to pay me, but there is no way his mother or two sisters (whom I’ve met) would let him go hungry. I decide to wait the two weeks until he supposedly gets paid.

Yesterday his cell phone bill arrived at my house and I realized March 7 had passed. I figured I’d let him know his bill was here and take the opportunity to request my money. I know, I know, I was clearly asking for it, but I couldn’t resist. He responds immediately saying he doesn’t know where I can forward the mail since he’s living at a homeless shelter, and, of course, he has no money. Hmmm… who knew homeless shelters were now equipped with high-speed Internet!! Wow! This pisses me off to no end. It’s not the fact that he doesn’t have my money, it’s the fact that he doesn’t own up to his responsibilities. He could have easily said, Look, I’m really sorry but I just can’t afford to pay you right now. Is there anyway we can make some sort of arrangement. I would have totally let him off the hook! It’s the fact that he’s making up these bullshit stories about being in a homeless shelter. Of course I couldn’t resist responding and telling him exactly how I felt about his attempt at a self-pitying excuse. The thing that irks me the most is that I had seen my brother struggling financially… and I mean TRULY struggling and not once did he go to a food bank. This kid has no idea what it would be like to actually have to go to a food bank or shelter and to use this excuse just makes me sick.

He responds by telling me I’m crazy and that he actually only went to the shelter once or twice between places. He also advises me that he will be blocking my email. He forgot that I have his phone number and can clearly see him posting on facebook all the time, but I will stop harassing him… only for my own sanity.

The worst part is, unless my current roommates decide to stay here another 2.5 years, my chances of having at least one more idiot living under my roof are pretty high. Ugh.