Every morning I wake up, my roommate is sitting on the couch grinning ear-to-ear, staring me down as I walk from my bedroom to the bathroom. When I leave the bathroom, she continues to stare me down with her creepy smile. Sometimes, she will change it up and be at the bathroom door waiting to greet me when I’m done. Regardless, this is a daily act of hers, and she makes every morning uncomfortable for me.

I ignore her and walk to the kitchen, but I can feel a shadow following me. She’s the needy type of roommate who has to be around someone, otherwise she feels lonely. Lucky me.

I take my cup of coffee, walk around her and head to my room so I can start getting ready for the gym, but I feel a set of eyes watching me from the doorway. My roommate continues to watch me when I’m trying to get ready. She gives me no privacy. It’s the most annoying thing, and sometimes she invites herself into my room and sits on my bed without my permission. No boundaries whatsoever.

Over time, I learned to ignore her. I like to believe one of these days she’ll give me my space, but that’s not the case. This is an everyday occurrence, and if I tell her no, she doesn’t listen.

She follows me to the door as I head out for the gym, but the moment I get back, it starts all over again.

She is there at the door waiting to greet me as soon as I get back. I’m trying to get from the door to my bedroom, but she’s constantly jumping like a preppy cheerleader still grinning ear-to-ear.

How can she not have anything better to do? She is always in my face and all I want is space when I get home or wake up.

One of my pet peeves is living in a dirty house, and she’s a total slob. She throws her things all over the house and won’t pick up after herself. I’m always having to clean up her messes, and it’s annoying. She even watches me clean up her messes, and I think she finds it funny and amusing.  

When I try to sit on the couch, she feels the need to sit as close to me as possible. She has no respect for personal boundaries, and I can confirm this accusation because she has sat on my lap a couple of times before. But wait, it gets weirder. She has licked me before. Licked me!

You would think her licking me would cross the line, but no matter how weird and needy my roommate is, I have to give her the benefit of the doubt. When she’s not in my face or following me around everywhere, she’s not so bad of a roommate.

Sometimes, when I’m feeling down, she’s there to comfort me. And if I need a friend to do something with, she’s always down to get out of the house and go on a relaxing hike. Not to mention, she is a great listener when I need to talk to someone.

Having a dog as a roommate has many cons, but the pros outweigh the cons in a heartbeat when it comes to having a best bud by your side when you need one.

Shelbie Goulding is a columnist. Contact her at [email protected].