Surviving the filthiest roommate (Feb 18th)

Beneath that perpetual mountain of rubbish is my roomrate's coffeetable.  Everything you see on it is hers.  In my six months of living in that apartment, I don't recall ever seeing that surface free of trash.

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ejoice! I've finally moved into my own apartment and no longer live with the filthiest roommate ever!  Thanks to her, the entire apartment was uninhabitable except for my private bedroom and bathroom.

Although Alyson (the roommate) was punctual about meeting financial obligations, her living habits were models of filth and disorder.  The problem wasn't a matter of her not having enough time to tidy up.  She simply doesn't see anything wrong with living in this conditon or, worse, subjecting others to it.  Funny, she'd have time to watch the entire NBC Thursday night line-up but not enough time to wash and put things away.  After countless times reminding her to clean, I figured I should simply bite the bullet and vacate as soon as the lease expired.  Besides, I saved a lot sharing rent and utilities.

These photos were not taken on a particularly messy day. This is how the apartment looked at any given moment.  Furthermore, these photos are of public areas.  It would be one thing if she kept her mess confined to her private quarters.  But these are kitchen and dining areas that others must navigate.  It was embarassing inviting people over.

I'm not posting these pictures to be vengeful towards her but to show those who thinks I've been exaggerating about my living condition.

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In the living room was a cage Alyson used to house her dog. Most afternoons, before she returned from work, this area smelled like a pet store or an overflowed toilet. I often held my breathe walking through to prevent vomitting. Notice a dog diaper is lying in the foreground. There is also a spatula she used to remove dog poop (I hoped she didn't cook with it afterwards).

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The kitchen was the worst.  Everything on these three photos (except the rice cooker) are hers, including that bowl of dog food high on the kitchen counter.  I'm surprised this area wasn't overrun by an army of roaches.  Even though I granted Alyson a vast majority of the cabinet space, she still preferred storing food on the counter and utensils and unwashed cookware in the sink and atop the stove.

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Why are her medication on the floor when there are perfectly good medicine cabinets in her bathroom?

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Her desk (which she kept in the living room).  Why not store some of that clutter inside desk drawers? Notice more medication is on the floor. There is also a red squirt bottle of carpet cleaner she used every time her dog poops and urinates on the carpet (the dog wasn't potty trained).  This brings me to the next photo:

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Dog poop and urine stains on the carpet.  Granted, my roommate was usually good with picking up poop within minutes of it hitting the floor.  But the thought of it touching the carpet even for a nanosecond grosses me out.  In my six months of living there, I estimate over 600 pieces have touched the carpet, some of it leaving permanent stains.