how would you like it?

http://ihatemyflatmate.blogspot.com/

the name says it all..
the person didn't last very long with that particular housemate eh.
reading that blog made me come up with a few scenarios... some are real, some are hypothetical, some happened to me, some were from friends like ZW and a few others who have shared horror housemate stories here and there ~ one thing i have to say tho... why is it so hard for someone to put themselves in the other person's shoes? all it takes is a bit of empathy. what's that you say?

how would you like it if your neighbor blasted music so loud that it shook the light fixtures in your room for the whole nite? that's annoying enough, let alone when you're trying to study for exams.

how would you like it if your neighbor gave you funny looks because they heard you wailing in despair much like a banshee would sound like at 11pm the night before?

how would you like it if you could hear your neighbor wailing like a banshee following what sounded like an argument with his girlfriend at 11pm tonight?

how would you like it if you could hear your neighbor's every step? you knew he first went to the bathroom but stopped by the kitchen sink because he ran his tap for 1 sec, and then ran for the phone without flushing and then know that his girlfriend walked in at that moment...

how would you like it if you, being someone who goes into anaphylaxis upon breathing in cigarette fumes, came home and your house smelled like ciggie smoke? your sheets, your carpet, your teddy bear, your friggin clothes...

how would you like it if you came home to a sink full of other people's dishes that have been there for so long that they've grown their own microecosystem and it's stuck to the sink anyway?

how would you like it if you woke up one morning to stagger to the bathroom half-asleep and dying to pee, to be confronted by a strange naked guy with nothing but a towel strategically wrapped and then proceed to walk into puddles of water on the bathroom floor he dripped behind?

how would you like it if you got out of the shower to use your towel and find it damp, knowing full well that the last time you showered at home was a week ago?

how would you like if your new housemate destroyed your new electrical appliances within the first 3 times of using them?

... i could go on and on but i'll spare you. if you can remember what you felt as you put urself in those situations above and remember that the next time you do something that just might irritate you if you were standing in the next room or about to come home to the same house.... and stop doing it, that would be a bit of empathy. as for the comment on the other person's blog:

"Sadly, I think I'd prefer to live with your flatmate rather than you. This site is an exercise in passive aggresive backstabbing. You're a truly horrible person"
Garth

the blogger didn't specify that the flatmate didn't know about that blog. how can you assume the blogger was backstabbing? let's play his game and assume that the flatmate was oblivious to the blog's existence. how the hell is that backstabbing when 1) the flatmate remained totally anonymous except for the fact that we know she's female and 2) one of the purposes of online blogs is to be an avenue for venting, an especially appealing one due to the anonymity both the blogger and bloggee can have. i'd like to qualify garth's comment with an expression i said once, and only once, in 6th grade that made my friend's jaw drop with horrified glee... "go stick a stick up your butt." (hey gimme a break, i was 10 at the time... *devil tail swishes out*)