“I Put Veggies In My Food To Stop My Roommate’s Kid From Eating It. Mom Threatens Legal Action”

Even in ordinary circumstances, having a roommate can be a tricky scenario. Sharing a living facility with a person you barely know can either result in an experience that will transform two randos into an inseparable unit or elicit eye rolls whenever they cross paths.

It will likely be the latter, however, when one of them starts messing with the other's fridge content. As u/veggieevengeance recently shared in the Petty Revenge community, this is exactly what happened to her (sans eye rolls) when she noticed her leftovers mysteriously starting to disappear. You'd think it's quite nice of her to make the meals more nutritious for the tiny person, her roommate's son, who was secretly feasting on it. But instead, it brought the already boiling tension between two grown-ups to absurd levels.

Living alone is a luxury fewer and fewer of us will get to experience in our 20s and 30s, it appears. As recently as 2007, almost half of the adult population lived with their spouse. However, various factors such as the decreasing popularity of marriage, skyrocketing student loan debt, and rising housing expenses have contributed to an increase in what we call doubled-up households - a term used to describe homes that include additional adults other than the householder or their partner. And yes, this also includes young people who have no other choice but to live with their parents if they want to save up some cash or not end up completely broke.

Census data from 2015 indicates that approximately 25% of Americans aged 18 to 34 lived with roommates, an increase from 23% a decade earlier. Furthermore, a Pew Research Center analysis of census data reveals that nearly 32% of all American adults lived in shared households - almost half of them with non-family housemates - in 2017, marking a dramatic shift from around 29% compared to 1995. Surprisingly, not paying for groceries or stealing food only irks around 7% of roommates, a 2021 survey has shown.

Of course, roommate issues don't seem that concerning when you realize that one in 10 American households struggle to feed their families, according to the annual food insecurity report by the USDA. The numbers of food insecurity have reached record levels with children in 274,000 American households experiencing hunger, skipping meals, or going without food for entire days due to insufficient funds to purchase food in the past year. In light of these distressing circumstances, then, the inconvenience of having a roommate's child occasionally nibble at your leftovers seems rather trivial (yet understandably annoying).

"Many times, conflicts can be totally avoided if roommates establish and agree upon 'house rules'," Irene S. Levine, psychologist and co-producer of FriendshipRules, told Bored Panda in an email. She says that it's important to acknowledge that disagreements are a common occurrence in relationships, particularly when individuals share a living space. And while no one enjoys silly bickering, resolving them only leads to a better relationship (at least, in most cases).

Regarding the specific situation at hand, Levine suggests addressing the elephant in the room in a calm manner and offering ways to help if the other party is willing to lower their defenses. "If you can’t afford to pay for additional food," she said, "explore public resources that might be helpful (e.g., food stamps, etc.) and tell your housemate that you will help them make applications." Additionally, Levine emphasizes the significance of choosing words carefully and taking the high road, "because no one likes their parenting styles to be criticized."