<p>Hey, I've searched for and read through threads about roommate problems, but couldn't find a specific thread on this issue. Let me know if I missed something, though.</p>
<p>I go to school in a major city. Though the area where my college is located is safe, there are robberies on campus all the time. This month, two laptops have been stolen from unlocked dorm rooms--in my building alone. Our doors don't lock behind us, so I make a point to lock the door every time I leave it empty. </p>
<p>As you might have guessed based on the title of this thread, my roommate does not. The past two times I've returned to the room, I've just walked right in. Once my roommate finally returned to the room, I asked her why our door was unlocked (with my laptop on my desk, my purse and wallet by the door, my camera in my bag, etc). She responded with a shrug and said "I was just going to the bathroom." I totally get this; I think it's taking it a little too far to demand that the door be locked if you're just running to the bathroom to wash your hands or something. However, she was not just washing her hands, and was in the bathroom for about ten minutes. She has also left the door unlocked when going to the basement to check her mail, which is definitely not okay with me.</p>
<p>I've brought this issue up with her several times-- when we signed our roommate agreement, and in the three or four times I've caught her leaving our room unlocked. What is the best course of action now? She's not going to stop unless I do something but I don't want to overreact. On some of the other threads about roommate issues, the OP is always told to go talk to their RA. Well, what do I tell my RA? What can she do in a situation like this?</p>
<p>Thanks for any responses to this overly long post!</p>
<p>Lock up your valuables.
You know she is too lazy to lock the room so you need to protect your stuff.
Buy a trunk, a cable lock and chain it to the bed to secure your valuables.
Most dorm theft is by opportunity, so if all your stuff is locked up and out of sight, her stuff will get taken.
You need to take measures in your own hands, she doesn’t care and you are wasting your breath lecturing her.</p>
<p>They sell safes at Target or something, if that would make you feel better, but you probably need to talk to your RA. What I’d do is say something like, “hey, we agreed to lock the door when we’re out of the room. You haven’t been doing that, and I’m worried my stuff is going to get stolen with the door unlocked. This isn’t a minor thing, so I’m going to go talk to [name of RA] if you keep leaving the door open.” And follow through. If you end up needing to talk to your RA, introduce the fact that your roommate hasn’t been locking the door, despite the fact that it’s part of your agreement, and you are concerned for your belongings. Your RA will probably call both of you in to mediate the discussion, and can probably come to a compromise both of you can agree on.</p>
<p>You need to confront your roommate about not following up with her part of the roommate agreement. If that does not work, the RA should mediate.</p>
<p>I’d be real careful about this one. Hiding could easily be interpreted as stealing. I read once about a roommate who did this. I don’t remember the details, but some consequence of having ‘lost’ whatever it was that was ‘hidden’ were dire for the roommate whose item(s) was hidden. This led to dire consequences for the one who did the stealing (I mean hiding).</p>
<p>I would tell her, “Look, it’s not just my stuff that could get stolen. How would you feel if [insert thing most important to her in the room] got stolen because of this? This is not okay.”</p>
<p>I hate it when people do that, because most thefts that I’ve heard of, either people left their stuff lying around in the library forever, or they left their doors unlocked. It’s one of those things that just needs to be done, like I have to clean my part of the room.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses, everyone. I returned to the dorm twice last night to find the room unlocked and my roommate on a different floor, and once she returned the second time we had a “discussion” about it. I hope the problem is solved now but I will continue locking my laptop up, or taking it with me if I have my backpack on me. Thank you for your help!</p>