I've got a problem... and not a slight one by any means...

He's my roommate...

I live in poverty. I never really have money for myself. I get enough from unemployment to be able to pay for my gas to and from LARP, because I'm the Storyteller, and I can't really miss game. Other than that, I get enough money for food and such from Food Stamps and what not...

Now, life itself isn't so bad... it's just... I don't feel I can do anything about it at this moment in time. No one's hiring... or no one's hiring me... but I can just barely make ends meet... by myself.

Which, as it stands, is part of the problem...

Back in November, I helped someone out. We kind'a knew each other through Gamestop, and his mom was tossing him the hell out of the house. She's a crazy bitch, you see, and it was one of those times where he'd have to find a new place to live or he'd have to do whatever the fuck she said. It was not a happy place.

Now, I've been there. When I was in trouble the most, when I was mentally loosing it and such, due to an oppressive step-father. I also have lived with this nice girl that some of you may know (and she knows who she is), and her family isn't all happy either. Her problem was that she'd thought most people got two parents, a happy marriage between them, and maybe a older or younger brother or sister or two... and this false belief (that everyone gets that) was the root of most of her unhappiness... the thought that everyone around her had it better than she did.

See, I have experience getting over myself, and making myself out to be a happy person. I gave up a lot of caring along the way (which was good for me since I didn't socialize verywell anyway), and that made things easier. I still care about stuff, but just the things I deem I care about... and I've gotten to the point where if there's nothing I think I can do about something, or something that I can't have any control over... I just stop worrying about it.

That works for me.

So, back to the point of the post: My roommate. His mom is a crazy bitch, and he's escaped her. I let him escape her. I was happy to help...

The problem is that he has no idea how to work life. I know, I use to be like that, and I figured it out sometime between 18 and 23, and he's only 19... but I remember being able to take care of myself. I might not have really done the laundry during that time, but I could figure it out, ya know?

Here's a couple of things:

• Leaving Plates on the floor leads to food on the floor... and possible breaking of plates.
• Leaving Drink on the floor (cans or glasses) will have basically the same result.
• Lift the toilet seat when you go to the bathroom standing, no matter how good you think your aim is.
• Do not use the toilet as a trash receptical.
• Do not try and get rid of hair down the sink or drain of a tub
• Do not leave on electronic devices when you are not using them (ie: The fan, the AC/Heat, the TV, Game Consoles, etc.). Wastes power, and raises the bill.
• Put yours and other people DVD, CD's, and Games back in the fucking cases, I swear.
• If you get the apartment clean, do not re-dirty it almost completely the very next day.

And those are just off the top of my head.

Dishonorable Mentions:

• Games do cheat... but not all of them, all the time.
• Not all Final Fantasy games are awesome. Actually... almost none are.
• Be sorry and/or apologize when you break someone else's stuff.
• Roommates should hang out just a bit and do a few things together. Movies, Games, and other things all apply. You are not there to do your own thing now that you have your own place. You don't have your own place. You and another person share a place.
• Metal is not the only good music... not even to you.
• 2D games are just as good, if not better than 3D ones.
• If a game that I recommend shows up on XBLA or in a Gamestop, do not buy it. I probably already own it, save your money.
• Spontaneous shopping trips, or important things that need to get done right now will probably have to wait. I prefer at least 24 hour warnings for driving anywhere with gas prices today.
• On that note, try to do all your shopping at once. I don't like going to Wal-Mart every day. I don't even like going every week.
• Less Trips, Less Gas. Period.
• If you are going to listen to music I do not like, wear headphones.
• Ask me before using my headphones.
• Nevermind!... Buy your own headphones, since you can't keep mine off the floor.
• Put your aluminum cans in the predetermined aluminum can location...
• Same for Carboard.
• This is not as funny as you think it is.
• Stop singing it.

OK... OK... I'm going to stop.

I'm getting beyond myself.

I'm thinking I'm going to tell him to straighten up or he's out on the street. The problem with this is that... he'll either be out on the street, or his mother is going to take him back home.

Which one of those is worse, who's to say...

Also, seriously, he's mentally fucked up. He might kill himself. Seriously. His whole life has been taken over so utterly by everyone but himself, he doesn't know how to work it. He gets depressed or insulted by some of the stupidest shit... things I could say to that certain female roommate and have her not get insulted by because she knew I was just a guy shitting with her... he'll get insulted by. That's saying something.

On the one hand, would kicking him out be what's best for me? Yeah.

However, I care a lot about other people... it's why he's here, ya know? I'm trying to teach him how life works, and how he can change things to the better for himself... but there's a couple of big problems preventing this from happening... Paying attention is one... and believing in himself and others is another.

He can pay attention. I've made him do it. I've taught him how to make Taco and hamburgers over the stove... and, seriously, you can't learn to cook or anything else if you don't pay attention, so I know he's got it in him.

Beleiving in himself and others, though? That's the big one. He's a liar... like, a huge liar... like... he lies to himself. If you lie to yourself and you believe the lie, you're in serious trouble.

He's in serious trouble.

If you lie a lot, then people will think you are lying even when you are telling the truth. Out of all the goofball things he's done wrong or just outright didn't know... lying is really my only line. One time I found out he lied, and I told him that out of all those things he'd ever done up to that point, lying was the only one that would really get him kicked out on his ass.

And now... he's lying... a lot. To me, my friends, and to work.

So, here's my thing: Kicking him out would be good for me... but it wouldn't be good for him. How much do I care? I care a lot because I think I can "fix" him. I've done it before, as it were. I've helped a lot of people over the years...

But I've also learned that there's a very thick black line that denotes where there's helping someone because you want to, and being taken advantage of because you're trying to help. I've learned where this [for me] thick black line is... and right about now, he's finally starting to get across that line to the other side... and that's not good for him...

And I'm going to tell him so, as soon as he wakes up...


See you in the Future,
—Huntermun