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Nov. 24th, 2007 02:20 pmDear Roommate,
I understand that you are in your sixties and I am in my twenties, and this means that you know many things I do not know. Your life experience > my life experience. Really. I get that. And we do, overall, get along quite well for two people of such a vast age difference who met for the first time about thirty seconds before I moved in.
That does not, however, make it okay to treat me like a slow four year old. If you wonder why I get snappish and snide at you so often, it is because I do not take well to being patronized. Oh, wait. There is no need to wonder, because I have told you this. I am an adult. A young adult with much to learn, but still an adult. I know how to cook. I know what to eat. I know plenty of things that you think I do not know, because I am young, and because I do some of them differently from you.
I am also perfectly capable of using a shrinkwrap gun to cover my window. I promise. No, you do not need to come into my room and do it for me, because it is my room and I am not five. No, you don't need to explain that it's expensive, as though I am suddenly going to hurl it across the room or perhaps attempt to put it in my mouth. No, I do not need it badly enough to allow you to treat me like a child.
Sincerely,
NOT FIVE
CHRIST. Donna is overall nice and I do like her, but her consistently patronizing attitude drives me up a wall. I may be forgetful sometimes (okay, a lot, it's called a freaking disorder, but it's not as bad as it used to be), but that does not mean I am in any way stupid. I am, in fact, quite bright. In all my myriad issues with myself as a result of undiagnosed ADD, I never managed to convince myself that I was stupid, and I have always resented being treated as though I am. I have already talked to her about this once. She is also not stupid, and I do not believe she is aware of how she talks to me. I am a non-confrontational sort and I don't want to get into this again, but I am about ready to point it out every time she does it.
Argh. Still, though, it could be worse. She could be a complete fucking psycho like the last roommate. I may get into the story of the Psycho Ex-Roommate sometime for the new folks on the flist, because it's really quite entertaining. I'd rather be patronized than feel the need to lock my bedroom door at night any day of the week.
I understand that you are in your sixties and I am in my twenties, and this means that you know many things I do not know. Your life experience > my life experience. Really. I get that. And we do, overall, get along quite well for two people of such a vast age difference who met for the first time about thirty seconds before I moved in.
That does not, however, make it okay to treat me like a slow four year old. If you wonder why I get snappish and snide at you so often, it is because I do not take well to being patronized. Oh, wait. There is no need to wonder, because I have told you this. I am an adult. A young adult with much to learn, but still an adult. I know how to cook. I know what to eat. I know plenty of things that you think I do not know, because I am young, and because I do some of them differently from you.
I am also perfectly capable of using a shrinkwrap gun to cover my window. I promise. No, you do not need to come into my room and do it for me, because it is my room and I am not five. No, you don't need to explain that it's expensive, as though I am suddenly going to hurl it across the room or perhaps attempt to put it in my mouth. No, I do not need it badly enough to allow you to treat me like a child.
Sincerely,
NOT FIVE
CHRIST. Donna is overall nice and I do like her, but her consistently patronizing attitude drives me up a wall. I may be forgetful sometimes (okay, a lot, it's called a freaking disorder, but it's not as bad as it used to be), but that does not mean I am in any way stupid. I am, in fact, quite bright. In all my myriad issues with myself as a result of undiagnosed ADD, I never managed to convince myself that I was stupid, and I have always resented being treated as though I am. I have already talked to her about this once. She is also not stupid, and I do not believe she is aware of how she talks to me. I am a non-confrontational sort and I don't want to get into this again, but I am about ready to point it out every time she does it.
Argh. Still, though, it could be worse. She could be a complete fucking psycho like the last roommate. I may get into the story of the Psycho Ex-Roommate sometime for the new folks on the flist, because it's really quite entertaining. I'd rather be patronized than feel the need to lock my bedroom door at night any day of the week.
