wtf |
Agreed. If you don't learn how to get along and share as a kid, it's a lot harder to pick up as an adult. |
| Part of the problem is that US has onerous housing regulations that make single-resident housing impractical. Hyper expensive places elsewhere, like Japan and urban China have tiny housing without roommates. |
OP's position, while inflammatory, still isn't telling you how to live. That would be an obvious strawman. |
I think the internet has made the stories of psycho roommates more widely known. |
I shared a room my whole childhood (the only one of my friends who did) and all of college, and shared a house in grad school. By my early/mid 20s I was done with it and wanted my own place. My first solo apartment was bliss. DH shared a house when I met him and, while I didn't think it was weird or immature, I didn't like hanging out there with his roommates and their noise and mess. Nothing to do with how I was raised, everything to do with personality and wanting some privacy. |
| It’s unfortunate that in the US there aren’t very many small studios available in most cities. Most people just want their own space and don’t care if they live in a closet if it saves them from sharing a bedroom with a stranger. In Asia you see a lot more small apartments |
People are entitled to privacy and that entitles them to their own living space. It’s in the Constitution. |
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I don’t understand why people think that living with roommates is immature. I think it’s financially savvy. DH could have afforded a 1br, but he saved a ton of cash instead that we were able to use as a down payment on a lovely house. I also lived with roommates, and was able to put a ton towards retirement. If we’d both lived alone, we’d be in a much worse place, financially.
The most immature person I know felt entitled to live in a studio in NYC on $30,000 a year. Then she complained constantly about finances. I felt really embarrassed for her. |
also: Kate & Allie The Odd Couple |
Don’t forget Friends. Gen-X TV kid here, and pop culture taught me that having roommates is fun! The reality of it wasn’t always fun, but it’s good for learning how to compromise and coexist with other humans. I hate the thought of young people just hiding away by themselves with their screens. |
Not where we lived! |
| Becuase roommates suck and anyone over the age of 30 shouldn’t be subjected to them. |
I don't actually think it is great to coexist within a home/apartment. Coexisting is hard even with families. I have a teen ds who wakes up at 5am...wakes me up. Dh goes to bed way too late...wakes me up. Sharing chores and various levels of comfort with cleanliness and clutter is hard as well. Compromise is sort of a myth when it comes to one's bio rhythms and habits: someone always sacrifices more and gets to experience discomfort. I live with it just fine because it's my family and I love them. Roommates I don't love? No, it would drive me crazy. |
Totally agree. When I was in my twenties I either loved with a roommate or with a boyfriend. My husband lived in a group house. We drove cheapo hand-me-down cars. |