It's 1:30 PM; Do you know where your roommate is?

Yes, you read it correctly. It was 1:30 in the afternoon and I had concerns about my roommate. Not because she wasn't home (she was) and I actually could care less where my roommate is at any point of the day, but she was a discomforting sight to behold as I walked into the apartment.

There I was with three bags in tow, trying to unlock the door to the apartment. My keys proved useless as my roommate had bolted the door from the inside. My fruitless attempts at trying to enter proved to be audible however, as I heard footsteps approaching the door and a swift unbolting of the lock. Now I could return to my previous task; unlocking the door. I succeeded and entered the apartment, and I beheld my roommate still laying in bed, motionless. I greet her with a disinterested hello, and receive no response from her, as if she could have possibly drifted back to sleep in the ten seconds it took her to unbolt the door. Although my roommate's act may seem trivial, it is indicative of the difficulties in having roommates and it's repercussions once the lease is over.

To be honest, I care little about how much my roommate sleeps. I take it that her sleeping habits are a consequence of her lifestyle choice, mainly drinking heavily on days when she doesn't have to work. What I do find fault is in that I end up having to pick up her slack.

I left for Connecticut on Wednesday , taking advantage of the long weekend. Before leaving I cooked breakfast, cleaning up after myself afterwards. I considered that my roommate may need to cook breakfast as well. I do expect such consideration to be reciprocated by my roommate. However, it does not. I arrived Sunday night after spending some time with a friend, and find that my roommate is in bed yet again, this time watching TV. I walk into the kitchen and am greeted by a heap of dirty dishes in the sink. It is at this point that I resort to cursing her name under my breath.

It is incidents such as these that make me excited to know that my lease will soon be up and I will finally get my deposit back (otherwise I would have left her months ago). She never cleans the apartment and she leaves some areas so filthy that I wonder if her vision is impaired. I clean the apartment every two weeks; I've been trying to narrow it down to one week. I can recall only one occasion, with great delight, that my roommate suggested we get cleaning supplies and then proceeded to tidy up the bathroom (for my part I made the kitchen spotless; a two-day endeavor).

I love my independence and I would love to stay in the apartment rather than go back to Connecticut or look for another place. But my roommate! My cursed roommate! She's already gone through two other roommates in a period of 2 years, although I imagine it was for reasons other than cleanliness. If I were a tenant she would be the happiest landlord. I complain about nothing, but I do expect at least the courtesy of clean dishes. The lease ends in July and I must decide whether to swallow my tongue for another year and renew the lease, or tell my roommate the inevitable and let her know I'll need to look for another place because of the above mentioned reasons. The latter decision may complicate matters, as in this scenario the term roommate could also be substituted for close friend...