Apartment Guide

As I sat watching American Idol with my 3 female roommates the other night, I began to reflect on the decision process that had landed me in this less than ideal situation.

I had lived with girls before and I knew what I was doing at the outset of my apartment search; when I first graduated and moved to Washington, D.C. and found the experience of living with girls to have advantage over living with 40 guys in a frat house.

The most salient benefit of female roommates is the apartment's cleanliness. When I lived with guys, it was a constant struggle to keep the apartment half way decent. I could straighten up and even embark on some large scale cleaning projects (with the appropriate musical accompaniment), but at the end of the day, it only took about 30 minutes of neglect for the apartment to return to its natural, sordid state.

But now that my roommates are female, the opposite seems true. It is almost a challenge to really mess the place up. A messy girl never really seems to rival the havoc that a guy can create. In an all male household, it was perfectly acceptable to deposit dirty dishes under the couch while the coffee table gradually transformed into a game of beer bottle and Styrofoam container Jenga (the loser being required to throw everything away)

Perhaps an even more important benefit of my current living situation is the level of respect my current roommates and I have for our apartment. Living with other guys, all sorts of disgusting and offensive behavior is not only tolerated, but encouraged to the point of competition. If you live with girls, however, you are much more likely to behave as a normal, decent member of society who takes pride in where and how they live. And some of us need all the help that we can get.

Also, just having diverse perspectives can be helpful. There are some things that I would normally completely take for granted if not for the input of my female roommates. I am pretty sure that this is true, and am confident that I'll think of an example at some point.

Living with girls is ideal, but it's not perfect. Quite often, there are certain chores that seem fall into the lone male roommate's jurisdiction. This includes, but is definitely not limited to, anything of or relating to the disposal of garbage, plumbing and electricity issues, and any heavy lifting.

We plan to revisit this topic in upcoming blog posts and expanding on some of the advantages and disadvantages (such as the almost supernatural ability of girls to detect when something has spilled.) In the interest of remaining fair and balanced, (like FOXNEWS) we will also entertain commentary from Erin Leonard, who will offer her input on the situation.

Let us know how you have fared in your various roommate situations!