When Sandra’s daughter, Abigail, phoned her, she relayed how miserable her living conditions were, prompting Sandra to switch into protective mother mode to salvage the situation for her daughter and her roommates.
I vividly recall the day my daughter, Abigail, rang me up. Her voice quivered with exasperation.
“Mom, it’s a total disaster!” she declared.
“What’s happening?” I responded, instinctively slipping into motherly mode. “Explain everything, but take your time, sweetie.”
“It’s my roommates!” she sobbed. “Their boyfriends are utterly intolerable. Do you know what they did? They interrupted my laundry, tossed my clothes wet on the floor, and started their wash!”
“What?” I gasped, feeling my temper flare.
“And there’s more,” she continued. “They devour our food, leave a mess of dishes, and with the recent chill, guess who’s been forced into cold showers? They hog all the hot water. Plus, they’ve stopped chipping in for the communal snack fund.”
“Oh, sweetie,” I soothed. “I’m so sorry, but we’ll sort this out.”
After a deep sigh, Abigail muttered her farewells.
I realized we needed a clever approach, especially since Abby’s roommates, Ella and Danielle, might worsen her ordeal.
“Please, Mrs. Landon,” Ella pleaded. “Help us handle this; we can’t stand it any longer.”
Discovering that three out of five roommates were aligned made confronting Tess and Rachel, the roommates responsible for the boyfriends, slightly more manageable.
Facing these two might escalate to more drama and toxicity for Abby and her allies, but it seemed unavoidable.
Fortunately, as the academic year and the lease were ending, Tess and Rachel planned a camping trip with their boyfriends.
“This is our chance, Mom,” Abby informed me. “They leave Friday and won’t return until Sunday night.”
While they were away, Abby, Danielle, Ella, and I got busy.
“Listen up, girls,” I directed when we met at a diner earlier that week. “We’re going to correct your living situation with your roommates and their boyfriends. You shouldn’t have to endure such conditions, and I’m here to end it.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Landon,” Ella responded. “My own parents just told me to manage as best I could, which didn’t help at all.”
“And mine told me to keep quiet!” Danielle added. “They thought it would just improve eventually.”
“No, I’m here now, listening to all three of you,” I affirmed as we sipped our milkshakes. “We’ll fix this. I promise.”
When the couples were away, we cleared out all their belongings. From living room furniture to kitchen utensils and even personal items like shower curtains and cleaning tools.
“Sadly, the shower curtain belongs to Tess,” Abby noted as she removed it. “So it has to go, too.”
“And the broom and dustpan that look almost new,” Danielle remarked. “They’re hardly used because Tess doesn’t clean.”
“Excellent,” I encouraged. “Pack up anything that needs to go.”
“Mom, they haven’t contributed to any communal supplies for months,” Abby added.
Thus, we decided that since Rachel and Tess had not contributed, they forfeited any rights to these supplies.
“I have a lockable cupboard in the garage,” I offered. “Let’s use that for storing essential items securely.”
I switched vehicles with my husband to bring over the cupboard in a van.
We stashed away all essential household supplies, ensuring they were locked up and only accessible as needed.
Upon their return, Abby recounted how shocked they were.
“You should have seen their faces,” she gleefully told me.
Apparently, their astonishment turned to despair when they discovered their possessions moved and essential items locked away, compounded by their food poisoning from the trip.
“I’ll send you their text messages, Mom,” Abby said, laughing.
Soon, my phone buzzed with furious texts from them.
How could you do this? We return sick and exhausted to find everything gone?
Where are our things?
You moved our belongings to the backyard?! How could you?
And you took all the communal items, too! The toilet paper?! We have food poisoning!
I chuckled as I read through the texts.
Their frustration was clear in their messages, demanding explanations for the unannounced changes.
“You were camping. Maybe there was no signal to receive our messages. Sorry, not sorry,” Abby coolly replied, now in control.
In the ensuing days, Tess and Rachel came to realize the full impact of their actions. Deprived of the conveniences they had taken for granted, they ultimately had no choice but to gather their sparse possessions and leave earlier than planned.
“Mom, you won’t believe it,” Abby mentioned over coffee later.
“What, darling?” I inquired.
“The girls have moved in with their boyfriends!” she revealed, glancing at the menu.
“No way!” I exclaimed, pondering how the four would manage on their own.
“Yes! Dani saw Tess at the supermarket recently, and she said Tess and Rachel appeared worn out and frustrated.”
“Serves them right,” I noted, stirring sugar into my coffee. “They needed a dose of reality. Those boys are likely causing chaos at their place. And those girls are just now seeing things clearly.”
“I just wanted them out of our lives, Mom,” Abby expressed. “It was about time.”
“And what about the lease renewal?” I asked, knowing Abby still had two semesters until graduation.
“We’re renewing it,” she confirmed, biting into her cake. “Dani’s twin cousins are taking the other rooms. I’ve met them, and they’ll fit in perfectly!”
Our strategy had effectively taught Rachel and Tess a stern lesson about respect and contribution, delivering a satisfying twist of retribution and reclaiming the apartment for a peaceful life away from disrespectful, entitled roommates.
What would you have done?
