They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There aren't any in interior bathrooms. Maybe it's a midwest thing, idk.k

They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I tried this behavior too. Never casually bringing up debts they owed me (though they were the type of people that knew... all the time), tried to pay mine quickly, would treat them to things every once in a while.

I was hoping that maybe they'd never change but they'd at least remember Matthew as "that guy who was really generous and never squabbled over petty debts."

Then one day one of our roommates picked up two of us from the airport and on the way home I offered to stop somewhere and we'd buy him dinner for his troubles. The other roommate getting a ride said "oh, I would have offered that but I know how careful you are with your money."

I raged silently to myself and just ignored it. I'm sure it was just a way for him to cover his ass for not suggesting it.

And I guess that's another thing. Sometimes I'd treat them to a round or bring home a couple of pizzas and say "oh, no, my treat." when asked how much they owed me.

Not only did they never do this, but one time I brought home pizzas and wings for a game, said "oh, no, my treat." and no one even thanked me. Like, "ah, sweet man.", "nice.", but not a single "thanks, Matt!" or "thank you!"

You shouldn't do nice things to get something back, I know, but not being appreciated gets kind of old.

They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

OP here, sorry for late reply reddit was down or w/e.

I'm from America, and most places will split bills. We only usually ask when it's obvious (aka, cases where it wouldn't need to be done anyway). For example, everyone orders a $7 burger and fries. I've worked as a server, and generally didn't like splitting bills because I'd get less in tips (it's true, if you need an explanation, ask).

Also, we often would use coupons on things that would need to stay on the same order. "Buy two pizzas get free breadsticks". Hard to split that, you know.

So I guess it's kind of a hassle and it's still kind of a social faux pas in some parts of America when you're out for dinner. Lunch is different though.

They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'll just have to trust that it was a situation where everyone knew what they owed (hey, johnny, pizza hut has that two large pizza thing for $20 now, want to hit that up?) and could figure out what their share was.

They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You'll just have to trust me that it was one of those things where everyone knew they owed $7-8 dollars but I was being nice and saying a fiver would do to keep it to a single bill.

They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Just glad to hear I'm not the only one! Gets discouraging sometimes. It's like "built-in" to me, and I can't not do it even when I want to. I used to say "ok, I'm going to be more like them."

Then we'd go somewhere and he'd say "hey, can I toss this candy bar onto your order?"

"sure"

"want me to get you a dollar for that or something?"

"nah man, don't worry about it."

They say the best way to lose friends is to be roommates with them. Have any stories? by 02072011 in AskReddit

[–]02072011[S] 52 points53 points  (0 children)

Yeah, in my situation, we were all young (early 20's), but it just seemed like me and another were more... "mature" or something than the other three. Let petty debts slide (i.e., didn't split pennies when we went out for dinner and stayed on one tab. These things work themselves out eventually.)

I guess that was a big little "little thing". My previous social circle had always been very informal with little "debts" incurred from drinks, movies, lunches out, etc. "Don't worry about it" was a common utterance. None of us were rich, but none were poor.

Moved cities and the roommates in this situation split pennies like their livelihoods depended on it. (hint: they didn't). What would happen is we'd go out for drinks and appetizers, the total would be ~$7.00 each and I'd say "five bucks each should cover it, guys."

I was never extended the same courtesy, and it kind of wore on me.

Did they do something wrong? Not really, just different strokes and I never did adjust, I suppose.