Cru Jones Society

I just renewed my lease; they raised my rent, God Dammit! But this is the first timeI  have ever renewed a lease. I spent the last few years changing homes like a hermit crab as I had roommates who were using a college education to move on with their lives, which meant I had to find somewhere else to live. But I have spent the last year living alone for the first time ever. Here are a few of the reasons why I have loved living alone.

Television

There is no compromise over what to watch. I get to decide all the time. I don’t get stuck having to watch General Hospital or Dancing with the Stars or any other show that would ultimately annoy me causing me to mock it the entire time it was on and piss off my roommate. On that same token I don’t have to hear someone bitching when I watch the same episode of Seinfeld for the umpteenth time.

Also my television watching can get annoying as I am often indecisive and A.D.D. Five minutes into a show and I’ll be looking to see what else is on, only to watch something for another five minutes then start searching again and eventually wind up back on the first show.

The last added bonus about watching television alone is there are no witnesses when I decide to watch something embarrassing like Full House. I watch embarrassing shit more often than I would like to admit. I really have no one to blame it on when I am alone, but then again I am alone so nobody knows.

Kitchen

There is something rewarding in looking into the fridge and knowing it is all mine. There’s no trying to remember what I bought, or wondering what is shareable, or trying to decipher whose tortilla pack is whose. There’s no getting grossed out by peanut butter kept in there, because I don’t do that nasty shit.

The last time I had roommates there was a constant struggle to get them to clean up the kitchen when a big part of the mess belonged to them. I no longer have that problem. If there is a mess in the kitchen, I know it is my fault and can’t really get mad. Now being the only one to take out the trash is expected and therefore not an issue. I also don’t have the issue of having lazy roommates who will put the only cutting board, or the only pizza cutter, or the only spatula in the dishwasher instead of washing them by hand right away. These are high use items and we can’t have them sitting in a dishwasher.

The best part is there is no funky smell from whatever weirdo food is being cooked. The same roommate who never helped clean the kitchen, fancied himself some kind of chef. He dirtied his dishes by making all these weird meals that mainly just made the house stink something fierce. Eight out of ten times it smelled like hot sick. I don’t vary too far from my usual menu, so I know what kind of cooking smells I’m going to make.

Bathroom

The last place I lived I had my own bathroom, so this isn’t that new and exciting to me. But it is great knowing everything in the cabinets is mine. I’m not bombarded with peculiar girlie products. My shower contains two bottles and a wash cloth; nothing to get in my way. I don’t get a nagging about the collection of nudie mags under the sink.

Living alone means never having to close the bathroom door. It means never having to wrap a towel around you after a shower. It also means never having to worry about if a roommate remembered their turn to buy the T.P.

Overall

My favorite thing about living a lone is the way the apartment fells like one big bedroom. Everything in here is my stuff. I can put it where I please, and I don’t need to run anything by anyone. I can come home at all hours and not worry about making noise. I can pass out on the couch and not have to worry about someone coming home with their hot friend and see me drooling in the middle of the living room. I don’t have to worry about people messing up my shit. After a hard day at work, I don’t have to deal with anybody. I can just sit and relax and unwind without interruption.

I’m sure there will come a day when I want to share a home with somebody, but for now I will enjoy my solitude.

See ya at the block party…

lee.s.hart@crujonessociety.com