Let’s be honest—roommates can be weird. I admit, I was on more than one occasion the weird roommate. I remember in my 20s thinking it would be cool to keep a minifridge in my room … you know, so I’d never have to leave it. That idea became rather short-lived after my roommates angrily showed me the electric bill for the month. Whoops.
As whimsical as sitcoms make it seem, the truth is it can be hard to blend different personalities—one person’s quirk is often another person’s character defect. But still, living with someone else is usually a necessity at some point. If you live in an expensive city, the need could be lifelong. So, learning to embrace it all is probably a good idea. At the very least, some oddball roommates make for some pretty great stories.
“The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon recently asked his Twitter audience to share “something funny, weird or embarrassing” about their roommate as part of his famous #Hashtags segment.
Indeed, the stories people shared were funny, weird and embarrassing (and yes, some were also quite gross), but each relatable in their own way, at least for anyone who has ever had to share their space with a stranger.
Here are a few fun anecdotes that’ll have you laughing … and maybe considering living solo forever.
Sometimes, having a weird roommate can be kind of cool. Their eccentricity can help bring out our own sense of humor…
“If my roommate and I were going somewhere together and he beat me getting ready, he would play the @Jeopardy theme song at max volume until I walked outside.” – @claydoughrocks
“My roommate would always need to go on a drive to “clear her head” it was actually a couple laps on mario kart.” – @elise_millsssss
… others might instill feelings that are less comedic and more horrific.
“My roommate would cut her toe nails & put the pieces behind the couch. She’d have to gather up the clippings then physically move the couch away from the wall to do this. I had no idea until 6 mos in when I went to vacuum behind the couch & found 50+ clippings.” – @MeesterLizz
“My roommate at college used to wipe his fingerprints away after touching something just in case I was a serial murderer and he would be blamed for it. Needless to say, he wasn’t my roommate for very long.” – @FallonHolic_
And even the most chill roommate can have the oddest food habits.
“Had a roomie who ate my pickles one by one, thinkin I wouldn’t notice. Every day I’d check the fridge & count pickles. not eating them. just monitoring things. Then the roomie acts like I’m weird for counting pickles, but don’t gaslight me bro. Stop eating my pickles.” – @gumgumerson
“My roommate would put black olives in a bowl, put milk on them and eat them like cereal.” – @srgraff
Some weird roommates provide a hilarious, yet compelling case proving that our most instinctive, primal urges to mark territory are still deeply ingrained within us … they’re just so repressed that we find the strangest outlets to assert dominance.
“My old roommate did not want anyone sitting in their special comfy chair after they went to bed. Every night they would remove all the cushions and bring them into their bedroom.” – @PugZLee9
Odds are, there is a lot more going on with whatever peculiar habit you’re witnessing.
“My roommate at college used to make sculptures from his empty beer cans. He made Stonehenge, the White House and the Colosseum. We only realized there was a problem when he started drinking more to make sure he had enough cans to ‘finish the sculpture.’” – Optimist_Eeyore
And sometimes … there simply is no explanation for why mad people do what they do.
“My roommate used to eat acid with me and the last time I saw him he went to the bathroom and I sat underneath a life sized Mickey mouse stuffy and jumped up when he walked by saying ‘hi everybody!’ In a Mickey Mouse voice. He ran out of the apartment never to be seen again.” – @jakemartinjokes