luxdreamer
Member
I am pretty upset right now.
Just a warning -- this is going to be a LONG post. Feel free to scroll down to the tl;dr segment for a run-through. I just really need to type all this out for my own sanity.
Once upon a time a friend of mine, we are going to call her Jane and her boyfriend Kyle, invited me to move in with them and their other roommates. I needed out of my home, they needed the extra income and we were all cool with each other so it seemed like a pretty win-win situation. Before moving in with them Jane had often bragged to me about how she and Kyle were screwing over their current roommates by making them pay for rent/bills that they didn't actually have.
Example1: Kyle's uncle paid for the internet bill and didn't make them pay anything on it. Jane and Kyle didn't tell their roommates that. Instead, they made them pay a portion of the bill each and if they didn't they would change the wifi password and then Jane and Kyle would pocket the money.
Example2: Jane and Kyle would have their roommates pay extra on rent by telling them their bill was higher than what it really was. In reality, Kyle's dad owned the house and was under the impression that Kyle, Jane and everyone living there couldn't afford to pay much so he asked them to pay half of the rent while Kyle's dad paid the landlord the other half often. While Jane and Kyle pocketed the extra money.
I know what you're thinking...
"Lux. Why would you want to move in with people like that? If you know they are screwing their other friends over you have to KNOW they would screw you over!"
And yes. You are absolutely right. I confronted them about it when I moved in and requested for receipts on everything I paid. I wasn't going to let myself get screwed over.
You may also ask...
"Lux, what the heck, why did you let them screw over those other people?"
In which I have to say I regret not telling them wholeheartedly. I didn't know any of them personally and by the time I moved in there was only one other roommate -- the rest had either left or been kicked out.
So the week that I move in we throw Jane a birthday party. Her 21st one, to be exact. And let me make this clear -- we are the type of people who really want to celebrate one's 21st birthday the good ole American way. Booze, friends, games and lots of laughs.
Long story short here Kyle's dad (who is also our neighbor) hangs out with us during the party, he has already been drinking all day and during one of the games we were playing (just a question game) he gets racist and rude and later Kyle talks to him privately and asks him to tone it down because Kyle didn't believe in discrimination in his home. Kyle's dad says he understands and decides to go home and then about 10 minutes later comes back with a gun and threatens to kill everyone there if even one of us is a muslim. Eventually it comes down to us all leaving, even the four of us who live there.
Eventually what happened us that I moved back in with my partner, Blue (the other guy who lived there) ended up getting his own two bedroom apartment and Jane and Kyle moved a few states over in with Jane's mother to get a fresh start.
A few months pass and Jane and Kyle decide they want to come home -- that they were having issues with Jane's mom being unreasonable and overall a jerk. Blue ended up going up there to get them and brought them and their two cats back to his place where he told them, "Hey guys, I am glad you are back. I missed you! Don't worry about bills and stuff right now, just focus on getting jobs and we will go from there!"
I don't imagine the job market is easy anywhere. Here is no different. Even so, firmly I believe that if you try hard and are diligent about getting a job you will eventually find something. It took them a few months to get a job. Well -- for one of them to get a job. Kyle ended up getting a part-timer and it was really admirable how hard he worked for it. Having to walk to and from work sometimes could be too much for some people -- but for Kyle he embraced it and did what he had to do to make money.
(part two below)
Just a warning -- this is going to be a LONG post. Feel free to scroll down to the tl;dr segment for a run-through. I just really need to type all this out for my own sanity.
Once upon a time a friend of mine, we are going to call her Jane and her boyfriend Kyle, invited me to move in with them and their other roommates. I needed out of my home, they needed the extra income and we were all cool with each other so it seemed like a pretty win-win situation. Before moving in with them Jane had often bragged to me about how she and Kyle were screwing over their current roommates by making them pay for rent/bills that they didn't actually have.
Example1: Kyle's uncle paid for the internet bill and didn't make them pay anything on it. Jane and Kyle didn't tell their roommates that. Instead, they made them pay a portion of the bill each and if they didn't they would change the wifi password and then Jane and Kyle would pocket the money.
Example2: Jane and Kyle would have their roommates pay extra on rent by telling them their bill was higher than what it really was. In reality, Kyle's dad owned the house and was under the impression that Kyle, Jane and everyone living there couldn't afford to pay much so he asked them to pay half of the rent while Kyle's dad paid the landlord the other half often. While Jane and Kyle pocketed the extra money.
I know what you're thinking...
"Lux. Why would you want to move in with people like that? If you know they are screwing their other friends over you have to KNOW they would screw you over!"
And yes. You are absolutely right. I confronted them about it when I moved in and requested for receipts on everything I paid. I wasn't going to let myself get screwed over.
You may also ask...
"Lux, what the heck, why did you let them screw over those other people?"
In which I have to say I regret not telling them wholeheartedly. I didn't know any of them personally and by the time I moved in there was only one other roommate -- the rest had either left or been kicked out.
So the week that I move in we throw Jane a birthday party. Her 21st one, to be exact. And let me make this clear -- we are the type of people who really want to celebrate one's 21st birthday the good ole American way. Booze, friends, games and lots of laughs.
Long story short here Kyle's dad (who is also our neighbor) hangs out with us during the party, he has already been drinking all day and during one of the games we were playing (just a question game) he gets racist and rude and later Kyle talks to him privately and asks him to tone it down because Kyle didn't believe in discrimination in his home. Kyle's dad says he understands and decides to go home and then about 10 minutes later comes back with a gun and threatens to kill everyone there if even one of us is a muslim. Eventually it comes down to us all leaving, even the four of us who live there.
Eventually what happened us that I moved back in with my partner, Blue (the other guy who lived there) ended up getting his own two bedroom apartment and Jane and Kyle moved a few states over in with Jane's mother to get a fresh start.
A few months pass and Jane and Kyle decide they want to come home -- that they were having issues with Jane's mom being unreasonable and overall a jerk. Blue ended up going up there to get them and brought them and their two cats back to his place where he told them, "Hey guys, I am glad you are back. I missed you! Don't worry about bills and stuff right now, just focus on getting jobs and we will go from there!"
I don't imagine the job market is easy anywhere. Here is no different. Even so, firmly I believe that if you try hard and are diligent about getting a job you will eventually find something. It took them a few months to get a job. Well -- for one of them to get a job. Kyle ended up getting a part-timer and it was really admirable how hard he worked for it. Having to walk to and from work sometimes could be too much for some people -- but for Kyle he embraced it and did what he had to do to make money.
(part two below)