The Fishy Truth about Roommate Revenge

Jessica Diers, Staff Reporter

Jessica_Diers@csumb.edu

May 1, 2008

Roommate revenge can be a vicious

way for college students to retaliate.

After four to eight months of escalating

emotions, roommates are prone to act a

bit irrationally. I have experienced the

conniving ways of roommates who let

an angry rush of adrenaline get the best

of them.

In the past my sarcasm has gotten out

of hand with sensitive roommates, but

I never intended for it to spark a fire.

Molly Frederick from the University of

Northern Colorado could not deal with

my sarcastic tendencies and is proven

to be the most spiteful roommate I have

ever had. She retaliated by putting a

Diet Coke that was not empty under my

pillow, along with paper towels in my

sheets and a handful of trash underneath

my bed-including a banana peel.

A little bit of an irrational response

for a few sarcastic spoken words? I

think so. I did not intend for my words

to cut so deep nor do I feel like the

situation needed to be dealt with in such

a distasteful or disrespectful manner.

About a year later Molly got a taste of

her own medicine. She had been stealing

my friends clothing and continuously

lying about using her body wash. My

good friend emptied her body wash into

a plastic bag and filled it with thick

white dishwasher soap. Needless to say,

Molly walked around for almost a week

with the sweet smell of dishwasher soap

trailing behind.

“It’s all about respect. If you’re

disrespectful and messy then boundaries

are being crossed and roommates tend to

feel like they are undergoing a personal

attack. Boundaries are an essential part of

keeping healthy relations with roommates”

said junior and Social Behavioral Science

major Simone Schinsing.

Junior and Human Communication

major Angela Blesener let a school year

of broken boundaries and bickering get

the best of her. She ended a nasty

relationship with her roommate by

putting two dead tuna fish and half of a

cod under her roommate’s bed. Blesener

decided to snap the cod in half and toss

the other half behind the dresser for her

roommate to find a week later than the

rest of the fish.

“My actions were [the] result of weeks

of animosity. I know it was childish, but

I had taken my roommates disrespect all

semester and I felt like it was time to

stand my ground,” said Blesener.

After washing her hands of this

retaliation and broken friendship,

Blesener walked out of her building

unaware that her angry rush of adrenaline

would restrict her from ever returning to

North Quad again. The juice from the

dead fish destroyed the mattress and

slowly dripped juice onto the carpet.

According to CSU Monterey Bay

policy this is a violation of public

property and Blesener was kicked off

campus for good. Now residing in a

hotel for the remainder of the semester

Blesener admits that this wasn’t the most

intelligent idea she has had.

From my experience it is never fun to be

at the receiving end of roommate revenge.

Students should consider establishing

boundaries and a mutual respect for each

other early in the relationship. I think it

would be beneficial to take necessary

precautions because you never know

when two dead tuna fish and a cod might

show up under your bed.