It has come to my attention that some people lack skills for survival. I'm not talking about hunting/gathering skills, but how to clean up after yourself so your roommates don't kill you. Instead of having kids in high school carry around sacks of flour like it's a child, perhaps we should teach them how to properly wash a dish or scrub a toilet bowl.
My apartment is not pristine. It would take many layers of paint and buckets of bleach to kill the mildew in the bathroom to make it so. But we have some ground rules that need to be reviewed. We have a subletter who is very nice, but I get the feeling she lives in a dorm so she needn't worry about dishes or shower cleanliness. So in case any of you have a roommate who doesn't get it (or maybe you don't get it) let's go over the basics:
*Your hair in the shower drain is unappealing. There's nothing more disconcerting than sleepily opening the shower curtain to see a small furry creature staring up at you from the drain. To remove the hair, when you're done showering simply use toilet paper or a paper towel to pinch it up and place it into the trash.
*We exist in a world of three dimensions. This also applies to dishes and silverware. Not only the part of the dish where the food was is dirty; oftentimes the underside of the plate or outside of the glass has smudges. Be sure to use a soapy sponge to wash the messy part, then rinse the food bits off the sponge and wash the outside of the glass/dish/tupperware, paying special attention to greasy spots. Rinse thoroughly and place on the drying rack. Place the sponge back in the sponge holder to avoid a funky smell and bacterial growth.
*If you live in an apartment with a dishwasher, be sure not to overload the dishwasher with crusty dishes. If you overload, your next pint may have last week's fried rice floating on top.
*Please lock the front door when you leave. Your roommates have stuff they don't want stolen.
*Keep the music down after 10:30. You may have a lame-ass neighbor who enjoys reading and sleeping at night.
*Have the courtesy to remove your empty glasses from the coffee table. At least move them to the sink, where the dishwashing rules apply.
*There is a time limit for how long dirty dishes can sit in the sink waiting for a cleaning. Please wash the dishes after 48 hours, or at least refresh the water standing in them.
*Remove trash before it overflows and a strange sticky consistency develops on the floor.
*Remove hairs from the edge of the sink when you're done brushing your mane. Nothing worse than leaning in to spit out toothpaste and seeing traces of the same furry animal that's growing in the shower.
That's all I've got for now. If anybody has new rules they'd like to add, feel free. Soon my coworkers and I will review T etiquette, because a lot of people apparently just don't get it.
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Apartment Etiquette 101
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4 comments:
Now what happens if she's a blog-reader, Ame??!!
Well, hopefully she'll understand it as a critique on her cohabitation skills and not a dig at her personally. Cuz she is nice. Believe me, I can lambast a roommate who isn't.
You seemed to leave out the section on sharing fridge space, and not pushing everyone elses perishables to the back, to make room for your stale beer that is way past drinkable even for your other roommate who happens to be an alcoholic fat man. Also, it is important to address the length of time you can allow your rotten food to take up space in the fridge--one week past the expiration date is sufficient--if their is no expiration date--the tri-color mold should tip you off.
Another tip for living with others--don't steal their stuff and give it to your friends, and then pretend like you don't know what they are talking about. My best tip is BEWARE OF PEOPLE from NY (city and upstate) they seem to think that they (individually) form the axis of the earth. How so many people think that the world revolves around them is beyond me. New Yorkers make horrible roommates.
Those of us out here who have roommates who refuse to introduce a soapy sponge to their dishes thank you from the bottom of our increasingly 'grumpy pants'. 'Fridge ettiquette is essential...there are those roommates out there who believe that it's okay to throw out other's food (because strawberries go bad in two days if not in the crisper), rearrange the icebox with the tenacity and precision of a beaver building a dam, and who hold the belief that "mayonnaise goes bad on the second shelf".
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