The more I think about the har-de-har-har of sending a blueberry pie pan that’s been sitting out for eons through the cafeteria washing line for the workers to deal with, the more disgusted I am. And not with the blueberry pie pan.
I wonder if there’s a correlation between those who are proud of their messiness and those who are proud of their let-themselves-go mentality as they age. I bet there is.
My partner is extremely neat. Me? Not so much. I’m also not terribly disciplined, and have no true “schedule” ever. I’m a fly by the seat of my pants gal.
I do leave clothes laying around, but I confine that to my closet. I’ve also learned to make the bed so I don’t have to hear “the big sigh”. It’s just common courtesy to try to put the other person at ease. And it looks better too!
“Deep cleaning” makes me laugh every time I see this thread!
Deep cleaning is something you get done to your teeth.
@Pizzagirl Your theory wouldn’t play out in my family. Any slobby moments are caused by clothing and accessories flung to the floor in an effort to look our best! And hair and beauty products overwhelming countertops.
I wonder if their is a correlation between those that are proud of their pristine perfectionism and those that drive everyone else away with their demands that others rise to their need for extreme neatness.
Never had this issue. Freshman year 2/2 apartment across from the school. All was great. Only shared space was the living room and kitchen. All was great until the roommate started eating my daughters food out of the fridge that I purchaced. Problem solved, my daughter charged roommate extra on the shared light bill… It’s all about respect…
Not necessarily despite your la di da tone above.
Some folks prioritize their spare time differently and don’t feel the need to jump instantly to ensure everything is pristine. Others do prefer the “lived in” feel as more “homelike” than feeling like they’re living in an antiseptic museum.
And yes, some of us DO prefer to live in a garbage dump. Far less likely to encounter the very pretentious la di da types and the ones we do encounter can provide some entertainment through their disgusted horrified facial expressions. 
There may also be a gender socialization to this as I lived with a roommate who was such a neatnik, organized, and color coordinated that a younger friend of the early millennial generation while visiting an old apt refused to believe the room belonged to a male roommate. He insisted it must belong to a “high maintenance” female roommate…that is until said male roommate came into the door and walked into that(his) room.
In contrast, my room and those of my mostly medical intern/resident roommates ranged from the spartan slightly disorganized to one resembling a cluttered academic bookstore/tech workshop.
A HS friend and his roommates at MIT had a similar problem with nearby grad students frequently coming in to raid their shared dorm fridge on their floor around 2 decades ago. Their solution was to purchase chocolate/vanilla ice cream, eat up all the chocolate, and replace the consumed chocolate ice cream with chocolate ex-lax. Never had an issue since and they ended up reading about a few grad students coming down with some “gastrointenstinal problems” in the MIT paper not too long afterwards.
My children are now 16 and 18. We just moved our washer and dryer so the electrician could move the outlets down behind the machines and out of sight. I found 6 baby socks and a pacifier behind the dryer. So much for “deep cleaning” in my house.
I put the pacifier in my jewelry box - it is a “keeper.”
I am “living in perfection” due to my house being on the market. I am motivated to sell, so my house is pristine every time I leave it now. I hate it… but it is helping me see how in my next place I could make it easier to be tidy by certain setup, furniture, or storage choices. It has forced me to examine all my daily habits, that is for sure.
Pulling a comforter up over a bed and wiping out a sink hardly constitutes “pristine perfectionism.”
I’m loving not having anything on the first floor of my house…after having the floors refinished. Believe me…what comes back in will be minimal. Lots to get rid of.
@cobrat your level of neatness really doesn’t matter at all if you don’t share a small space. But a dorm room of 10x12? Please…be respectful of the person on the other side.
We know what your friends…and friends of friends would do…how about your many cousins? 
Inquiring minds!!! Keep us in the loop! (Bc I’m nose-y as well as messy!)
Not everyone had comforters.
In my case it was due to a combination of finances and having a body which tends to overheat if I had the comforter on even in the cold Ohio winters. Considering all of that, having a comforter would have been nothing more than a space wasting expense I could do without.
As much respect is given as earned through initial interactions…including the types of requests made, the tone of voice in which they are communicated, and whether it’s reasonable and civil or not(i.e. Bossy and demanding).
Going back to OP, while a few requests made by said roommate are reasonable…others are not and the tone in which the requests were communicated would put most college first-years off…especially young males.
With the exception of my female cousins and one set of male cousins raised in a strict quasi-military environment, we are all over the spectrum from the fastidious neatniks who’d do PG and those of her ilk proud to extreme slobs* who’d horrify even folks with lowered standards like yours truly.
- A few of those extreme slobs ended up getting evicted from apts owned by aunts(not their mothers)/grandparents who otherwise doted on them because their messiness became too much for the older relatives to tolerate. In their cases....an aged blueberry pie stuck on the plate for months by the windowsill wouldn't even register on the meter of slobbiness. And the blueberry pie story really struck me sad for reasons beyond messiness....what a waste of food.
Any update, OP? I hope they came up with a reasonable compromise, as IMO, that list of how the room was to be kept was strident. That said, if they live like that, you’ll probably get your full deposit back from housing at the end of the year!
S told me and her Dad that one of his suitemates “apologized for being a bit CDO”, then added “It’s a lot like OCD but it is in alphabetical order, as it should be!” Turns out he was only half-joking, he has been in therapy and has found using humor a very effective way of dealing with this.
I found this funny. Now reading your post, I am sure he intended no disrespect towards those others who have it worse than she does, in the same way I don’t think anyone who perhaps carelessly responded to this thread with an armchair OCD diagnosis meant to be offensive. I appreciate that you are not trying to be too sensitive about this and I agree with your suggestion about being more careful with the words we choose.
S’s suitemate is also in one of the singles - there are 2 doubles and 3 singles in the suite, they share a common room and a bathroom.
“I would hate to ask how often people change their underwear and pjs.”
I have to wonder how many people actually wear pj’s…
Well, I don’t, and haven’t since I was a little kid. I prefer nightgowns. Or nothing.
Kid who used to get a new bath towel every day also changes PJs every day. He went to school with 2 towels and 4 pair of PJs so some compromises will be in order.
@saintfan I think we may have the same kid. Wait…mine’s a girl.