Disclaimer right away - The title can be(read "is") misleading. This post is not about men AND women but rather the differences between the two. Sorry about the sudden testosterone or estrogen rush the title might have led to! It was my trick to "grab attention within first minute of your presentation" which my mentors have been trying to teach me. I could've named it men VS women, but then I'm trying not to sound feminist (an internal joke) Anyway I digress.. coming back.
Now having been living with female roommates (and a LOT of them due to sky-high rents) for about 2 years, I have sorta been through all the stupid idiosyncrasies there are. Some of my guy friends find my stories highly amusing and I sometimes don't mind narrating some funny catfights at my expense. Its never easy when 5-6 girls are living under one roof for more than 20 days (avg "honeymoon" period before we are prone to pick petty fights or leave "angry notes" on the refrigerator). My conception about roomies was like having an extended sleepover and pajama party, but its a different game altogether. However whenever I observed similar living arrangement among the guys, it seemed like "No Problemo... more beer dude??" Aal is well :) They know to keep it simple, sort their priorities and have fun as a small family.
We all know the familiar phrase called "Men are from Mars and Women, from Venus". I'd beg to differ slightly and comment that its more like "Women are from Mercury (bitchy, irritable) and Men, from Neptune (cool or nonchalant). (and sorry Pluto, but not you coz you aint a planet anymore). Guy roomies have a capability to overlook petty issues and at the same time, show adequate consideration towards a "bro-code" of sorts. One particular example that jumps to mind is a friend who continues working uninterrupted in his room, when his roomie and his gf in the adjoining room..well..are not particularly "silent". Perfect "live-n-let-live" attitude but which doesn't necessarily slip into indifference.
Us girls, on the other hand, have a very low threshold for adjusting. In my defense, my threshold is pretty adequate but exhausted when one sits besides me and hums incessantly when I'm studying! Good friends, once upon a time, can be doomed to become arch enemies if they are roomies past that honeymoon phase. This can be manifested in myriad ways, for e.g.
- Stealing food from "her" fridge shelf.
- Making abysmal food on one's cooking turn
- Complaining about "loudly chewing chips" that is apparently disturbing your sleep!
- Trying to make a cock-n-bull story about a burglar breaking in to "eat cereal", to avoid admitting that it was you. Developed ahead to explain how burglars here are more keen on food (cereal..yes ofc..its so tough to get!!) over other things like laptops, phones lying in plain view.
The girls that do stick through this and come out victorious (i.e. stay friends) are few and commendable. Hats off to you but you are an outlier (doh!) and I feel sorrow for the ones that don't (me included). Nevertheless, let me conclude with the cliche that it was one helluva learning experience and part of finding one's identity and compatibility :)
cheers to student life!
Haha.. I was expecting some "revelations" before you graduate, having seen the interesting chemistry between you and your roomies. LOL @ burglars-stealing-cereal. What you've mentioned seems like a universal phenomenon.. of all the girls I know here, not one of them is staying 2nd year with the same roomies as 1st year! Guys, well, its mostly indifference, like in my house. Tu-tera-dekh-main-mera-dekhoon works best.
ReplyDelete‘Stealing food from “her” fridge shelf ’ – Wow! While I know one set of guys who had a similar ‘shelf’ policy, it still boggles the mind. Most guys are simple, tolerant creatures that follow a straightforward formula:
ReplyDeleteIndividual Contribution = (Publix Bill) / 4;
(with concession for ‘personal preferences’).
Speaking of the fridge though- this was something I had documented in my GT days- actual honest-to-goodness quotes from my roomies, recorded verbatim:
- "Don't scratch your head in the fridge..."
- "An uncut, unpeeled onion has no place in a refrigerator...."
- "Frozen banana anyone?"
- "VICKS should be stored in the fridge."
- "When in doubt, stuff the ENTIRE cooker (lid n all) in the damn thing...."
- "FINALLY, A GREAT place to store cups and knives!! (Apparently, that also extends to yesterday's omlette, assorted yogurt with vegetables and raisin bran with milk and Strawberry Syrup)."
- "This is where I keep my toothbrush....."
Hahahahahaha… while I don’t miss the mess, the bed-bugs or the over-flowing trash can in the kitchen, I so stare at the space of my now empty fridge, and wonder how things have now come to this..
‘Making abysmal food on one’s cooking turn’ – ah, the ol’ ‘Scorched earth’ policy, eh? Could’ve just hacked into the router and banned your roomie’s MAC address- a punishment far worse than you average abysmal food (I should know- I had to go to Klaus at 1.00 am because I thought there was something wrong with my laptop’s wireless :| :|), while the perpetrator sat in the corner grinning to himself - the %#$#^&* (expletive deleted as I don't know how tolerant you are of those in your blog :) ).
‘one sits besides me and hums incessantly when I'm studying!’ – I wonder if your former (?) room-mates read your blog?
And speaking of testosterone rushes… I look forward to more about your friend’s roomie & his GF in the adjoining room, and their ‘not-so-silent’ encounters ;)
@ anon,
ReplyDeletelmao at your list of "lines at the refrigerator"! in retrospect, all these idiotic lines really seem to make for an amusing story!
Feel kinda sorry ! Never been through this before. When I was in India, my roomies were great ! Thank my luck for that ! In the US, I've always preferred to stay in GLC... i've found it so much easier to live with american/european roomies... they dont cook, they live their lives and let me live mine ! No interference of any sort !
ReplyDelete