My roommate just came back drunk; vomited all over our room and then took off

Student Lounge College Life
81

<p>Calm and decent…the OP’s roommate was not being calm and decent, and he did not treat the OP as he would like to treated.</p>

<p>That said, the OP can do what he pleases. If it were me, I would have gotten photographs, a police report of the indecent, and signed statements from the two people who had to flee their room on account of the stench. If dorms are anything like apartments, they likely carry deposits, and if damage has been done, liability may be collective. Thus, it is necessary to establish that the roommate, as opposed to one’s self, caused the damage. It is not so much the money, but rather the principle of the matter: </p>

<p>Mess with me, mess with my things, and I make life hell. I will come for your money, and will leave your credit to bleed because I am the hammer, and that which displeases me becomes the anvil.</p>

82

<p>And then you live with that person and whatever unpleasant behavior they choose to subject you to until Spring, and if you can’t negotiate a room swap (which can be extremely difficult to do) you are stuck with no recourse as long as their actions remain within the realm of legality. But the important thing is that you win, right?</p>

83

<p>Exactly. By the way, two could play that game if need be. From the looks of things, this person is trouble to begin with. Do not reason with a cockroach, squash it.</p>

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<p>Vanagandr has so many friend!
Seriously…I’m sure the drunken fellow will come to reason and pay for it. The OP shouldn’t follow any of your advice unless he wants to be like Vanagandr and sit in his room with “wooden chess pieces” for friends.</p>

85

<p>momma-three,
A blackout is a bad sign. And not returning to the room at noon every day, that is also potentially a bad sign. Hopefully it is an isolated incident (not an “indecent”, vanagndr-- great typo!!), but being that intoxicated that he got sick all over the place and drove many miles with no memory of it-- that is dangerous. </p>

<p>Most colleges have alcohol awareness presentations as part of their freshman orientation. Lets hope the OP’s roommate attends and remembers the content.</p>

<p>Good post, emaheevul. Point well taken. Guess to some it’s all about the win. (I think your point went over his head).</p>

86

<p>You are exemplary proof that (supposed) book smarts indicate nothing definitive of overall intelligence. Nice talking to you, Vanagandr.</p>

87

<p>Vanagandr…thats why roommates who do not get along, hide their toothbrushes. I am sorry but you would have a difficult time if you lived with anyone. Life is about compromise with those that we live with. When compromise can not be achieved than it is time to peacefully find other living arrangements so things do not escalate to the point where police and courts become involved. That is the point…AVOID POLICE AND COURT when you live with people. Decent people can be dealt with without such drastic measures. </p>

<p>Vanagandr, you have been around some interesting attorneys if that is all you have taken from your exposure to the law. First and foremost, if you have a mouth you can settle disputes on your own without the need to seek a professional or the police.</p>

88

<p>

</p>

<p>Burritos has so many brain cells!</p>

<p>But seriously; I said they were room-mates, but we are such good friends that I let them stay rent-free. I happen to have a good rapport at the school’s robotics club and among the faculty, so that should disprove your poorly-worded assertion.</p>

89

<p>From another post of Vanagandr’s in another thread

.</p>

90

<p>Vanagandr…you moron. It’s a joke. Perhaps your uncle forgot to tell you about humor.</p>

91

<p>Apologies in advance to anyone with an Aspie family member, but I am beginning to believe that Vanagandr has either a personality disorder or perhaps Aspergers. The interpersonal difficulties (by his report) and trouble catching humor is of concern.</p>

92

<p>Vanagandr is exaggerating a bit with getting the police involved, but why are you guys beings such a-holes to him/her? The hostility toward Vanagandr is really unnecessary. It’s no surprise since I’ve seen an increase in hostility on this site recenly. It’s like no one has the right anymore to say what they want or else they will just be attacked and ridiculed. -_-</p>

<p>Anyway, to the OP’s situation: I would be extremely ticked off if my roommate came and vomited all over the place. Some people might find this funny, but there is nothing comical about vomiting and passing out after drinking. The OP’s roommate might have a major problem, especially about the “driving” bit and not remembering anything. Hopefully that is not the case and this kind of behavior doesn’t become frequent and the norm.</p>

<p>@ Northstarmom: Wow! I never heard of that story about the kid from Cornell. That is extremely eerie, especially considering that he used to post on this site. I had to look at his post history for myself just now and I couldn’t believe how nonchalant he was about drinking. It’s pretty tragic and what is even more unfortunate is that there are many kids out there in college who come in with that nonchalant mindset about excessive use of alcohol. I know this kid and sometimes I feel guilty when I see him on the floor passed out or making drunk phone calls at 2am, yet everyone else around me seems to find it hilarious :(</p>

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<p>mushaboom-
If you read the posts, it doe not sound like vanagandr intend to exaggerate at all. What makes you think that?</p>

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<p>Thus far, I advised two types of actions: that which recoups loss and that which prevents loss.</p>

<p>Preventative - police report, witness report, etc.
Recuperative - asking for a cheque for the damage (read my posts, you will see it), then small claims or whatever judicial process is available at the school. If one prevails and he does not pay, send the debt to collections and fry his credit for the next seven years.</p>

<p>This does not seem entirely unreasonable. I do not know why you damned monkeys seem to make such a big thing out of these things; as if the drunken room-mate is all the sudden everyone’s friend. People are too docile in nature for their own good; if Genghis Khan can kill his brother over a fish at the tender age of 13, I am sure we can be a bit more harsh in dealing with vandalism.</p>

95

<p>Legal definition of vandalism involves the intentional destruction of property. This did not occur. The roommate did not knowingly cause serious damage to the roommates property. A claim of vandalism would likely get laughed out of court.</p>

<p>Your very first post in this thread ended with this “sage” advice:

And you wonder why people are reacting as they are? Really?</p>

96

<p>Let’s consider the big picture of the situation, particularly from an engineering point of view. You ask the question: what needs to be done? Well,</p>

<p>1.) OP needs some place to sleep
2.) OP needs to make sure this never happens again</p>

<p>So, what are the easiest ways to get those done?</p>

<p>1A.) The OP can clean up the mess with whatever resources available
1B.) He can also find another place to sleep
2A.) The roommate needs to be reported so that the dorms can do something, whether it’s evicting the roommate, giving OP a new room, or anything else
2B.) OP can also use other scare tactics, such as lawsuits
2C.) Murdering the roommate, however wrong and impractical, is also a (misguided / bad) solution.</p>

<p>There’s a multittude of ways to get these done, but you want to get it done with the least effort.</p>

<p>For 1A, the OP can probably just bring a sleeping bag to a room next door and make a few new friends. That sounds easy, but someone will have to clean up multi-hour vomit later – that’s bad.</p>

<p>For 1B, it’s immediate work for immediate results, but that destroys evidence for 2A. No problem: there are witnesses, and you can take photographs for better documentation. Those would all be evidence for the report whan an RA is available the next day.</p>

<p>So, 2A’s been discussed, so let’s go to 2B. Sure, you can call the police, file lawsuits, etc., but they are a huge time investment, have plausible social fallbacks, and a high amount of risk compared to just getting the RA. Not to mention, nothing gets resolved until at least your day in court. Your burden of evidence will be much higher, and even if you did win, your roommate is only out of a chunk of money. This doesn’t exactly prevent this situation from reoccuring.</p>

<p>Ok, what about 2C, murder? Clearly, it shouldn’t even cross your mind as an option (I know, I’m jaded), but it does very surely prevent the situation from happening again. The risks are: it’ll certainly haunt you for life, you’ll be hurting his family, and you’re gonna go to jail for life (or even get death penalty), negating any of the reasons you’re in college for the first place. It’s also physically difficult and messy. Hence, the costs are astronomical compared to the other two.</p>

<p>So, easiest solution? Document the situation, get the cleaning crew, make friends with floormates while your room is getting fixed, and have the dorms do something about your roomate. He’s probably going to be fined, if not evicted. This takes only a couple hours of time and very little effort. Situation resolved, move on with life.</p>

97

<p>the fact that he though up and forgot everything also points to the fact that he was driving drunk which can get you straight to some jail time.</p>

<p>OP - Did you remember to take pictures of the damage to your stuff? With it, it would make things more easier to get him to pay for whatever he messed up.</p>

98

<p>I think that once the roommate comes back, BrekfastChampion, you guys will need to have a discussion because if anything this type of situation can happen again. Not saying that it will, but it could.</p>

<p>Most likely the roommate will suffer the consequences in terms of being fined. So the OP shouldn’t have to worry about anything else. </p>

<p>BrekfastChampion: If you continue to feel uncomfortable, I would suggest a roommate/room switch, but only if any other problems arise between you and your roommate or if he makes you feel uncomfortable. Hopefully he’ll apologize for what he did and this will just be – hopefully – a one-time incident.</p>

99

<p>Stop feeding the ■■■■■</p>

<p>As far as what to do, just talk to him about it and lay down some ground rules. Its college and it happens, people drink, blackout and vomit. Im sure he’ll understand and probably offer to clean everything up, and probably reimburse you. If this problem continues then look into a room mate switch, but one incident is usually no reason to take such an action.</p>

100

<p>Just ask him to pay for what he has ruined…use words, they often work. If they don’t work I would say that the RA is already aware of the room situation so that is the last resort. Just try to make the best of this first weekend on campus and the error that your roommate made. When you get back home on break your story will be better than your friends and hopefully you will be able to laugh about it.</p>

<p>I wish more parents were aware of what their little darlings often do when they arrive on campus…maybe they would rethink ever sending a freshman off with a car.</p>

<p>We cross posted ^^^^^ Viciouspoultry that is exactly right.</p>