Roommate Hall of Fame Part I

In honor of another school year starting I have decided to begin a roommate hall of fame or should I say shame. Each week ( or until I run out of entertaining stories) I will recount the tale of a horrid roommate. Ones that I have personally been subjected to or have witnessed. And we are off and running:

"The Bait and Switch"

Initially this roommate seems fabulous. They are happy and seem social and outgoing. However after a few months of relative calm they suddenly snap into, for lack of a better description, a Bridezilla (too much television). All of the sudden everything and everyone is expected to bow to their command.

My freshman year I had such a roommate... we will call her Lemon. Lemon basically morphed from a mild mannered party girl type into a self absorbed crazy person. By the third quarter her boyfriend had taken up residence in our apartment (without asking) and she would routinely come into the common room at 10 p.m. or earlier asking us to "keep it down." Come on now we are living in a dorm not a convalescent hospital. No Lemon did not have a job or an 8 a.m. class....but her better half needed his beauty rest. For the love of God.

At this point maybe you are asking why the sane members of the house didn't ask the love birds to get lost. Well in addition to Lemon's permanent guest situation she would also hold the house emotionally hostage. Example: if we questioned her or asked her to refrain from bitch behavior she would stomp around the house slamming doors and giving us the death stare.

This continued through the end of freshman year and into our sophomore year (yes before she showed her true colors we signed a lease for the following year). I think my favorite moment came when after refusing to pay her portion of the rent she elected to get a boob job. Another goodie: when she would go out of town she would mark all her alcohol bottles as she was convinced we were all drinking her stash. Paranoid much? Lesson learned: If it looks like a bitch and acts like a bitch, guess what its a bitch!

Coming next week: foreign roommates that speak little or no English and engage in sexual activities while you are in the room...awake.