So, living in New York City is expensive. (Are we telling you something you didn't already know? We didn't think so.)
It's so expensive to live here that in order to have enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, you need to earn at least $130,000 per year. In order to live alone in Brooklyn, you need to earn at least $88,000 per year.
Needless to say, must of us don't earn that much. So, we solve this conundrum by living with roommates.
Sometimes, our roommates are our pals, our homies, our best friends ever. Sometimes, we live with roommates and the whole experience is one harmonious blast.
Sometimes, though, living with roommates has its own cavalcade of issues. Sometimes, we wind up living with some really crazies.
Below, spoiled NYC writers have opened up about some of the wildest roommate experiences we've had. Suffice it to say, there are some nutty people who live in this city.
Once you've read ours, we'll ask you the same question. What's been your most insane roommate experience?
Jackie: My 29-year-old international student roommate
"When I was in college, I got moved from a single room to a double after the roommate selection (all of my friends were already happily doubled up or studying abroad).
I wound up getting put into an apartment with three international students. My roommate ended up being a 29-year-old woman from China who was studying in our graduate school; I was a 20-year-old college student. As in, she was there to learn, I was there to work hard and play hard.
One of the first nights, the lights were out and I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden the florescent overhead room lights turned on at 2 in the morning.
[anad]
Apparently, she had a toothache and couldn't sleep, so (for reasons best known to her) she thought it was time to wake me up... No toothache requires that much moaning. Grow up, you're a 29-year-old woman, dammit.
The next night, she turns the lights on again. It's 6 in the morning. She informed me that students in China only sleep 6 hours, and that we both needed to wake up. I told her that students in America sleep as much as they possibly could, and to shut the eff up and turn off the lights.
Of course, that didn't fly for her, so I ended up sleeping on a futon in the common room of our apartment for the rest of the semester."
Isaiah: My overbearing, jealous roommate
"When I was 19, I lived in Jackson Heights in a two-bedroom apartment that had been 'converted' into a four-bedroom apartment. Needless to say, there wasn’t much space.
Luckily for me, I had scored the largest 'room' in the apartment when I moved in, equipped with both windows, a fire escape to the roof and a view.
Although I was paying a little bit more than the others, it wasn’t a secret my other three roommates were already petitioning for the room for after I eventually moved out.
After about a year living there, I began to see someone and spent a number of nights at their place, as it was in the city and closer to school for me. One day, I come home to one of the other roommates putting my stuff into boxes and pushing them into the foyer and stacking them by the door.
I asked what he was doing and he looked blankly up at me and said, 'Well, you’re never here anymore so I thought you wouldn’t mind if I took the room over.'
I spent the evening re-unpacking and setting up my room as if I had never moved in at all."
,Amber: My roommate's crazy boyfriend
"One time, I was just getting into my rem cycle (which was hard to do in my room right over a street of angry NYC drivers) and I heard noise coming from my window.
I slowly opened my eyes to see a dark figure coming through my window. Yes, a man was breaking through my window in the middle of the night. I was sure this was the end for me.
[anad2]
But, wait, it was just my roommate’s drunk boyfriend, Kyle, who got locked out and thought the best way back into our apartment was through my bedroom window.
He said: 'Relax! It was just a mistake.' Oh really? You mistakenly climbed through my bedroom window?? Naturally, I moved out a month later-- and that was no mistake."
Amber: My roommate's crazy boyfriend (part two)
"It was Halloween night and I received a text from my roommate: 'Don’t come back to the room yet. Kyle is really drunk and the room is a mess.' (Not a surprise, as Kyle wasn't my favorite person to begin with.)
After the night of festivities came to an end, I returned to my room to see my bed off the hinges, pictures ripped off the wall, things thrown everywhere, and the icing on the cake- my computer screen completely smashed in.
[anad]
Instead of having her insane boyfriend get my computer fixed, my roommate took it to get fixed herself-- yet another example she felt the need to fix horrible things that her boyfriend had done.
So, I finally decided to tell her that she should get out of her unhealthy relationship. Unfortunately, she disagreed and thought I was being a 'b*tch.' Oh well."
Sara: My roommate who hooked up with my biggest crush. Ever.
"You know how some people are amazing friends until they're forced to live together, and then things get kind of crazy?
Yeah... that's what happened to me.
My roommate had hooked up with the girl I had a crush on. It wasn't just any crush though. It was an all-consuming, life-dominating crush. So, I was mad at her.
My revenge? I decided, very dramatically, to move out. I shoved all my shoes and clothes in a bag, and I started to take my posters off the wall when my roommate said she wanted to help.
[anad2]
'Don't,' I said. 'You'll rip my posters.'
She went to take one single poster off anyway, completely ripping it in half.
The poster was important to me, because it was the map of Jerusalem I'd gotten on my trip to Israel. So I was even more furious.
I grabbed my duffle bag, got on a train, and went home to have dinner with my parents. After dinner, my mom told me to go back to my apartment.
So, sheepishly, I went back to my apartment and unpacked my bag and put everything back in my drawers-- while my roommate smirked from the doorway. #Embarrassing."
Check out 7 Reasons You Love to Hate Your Roommates in NYC.
[Feature Image Courtesy Google Plus]