If diplomacy doesn’t get your roommate to change their bad habits, a few not-so-subtle pranks might make them reconsider their behavior.
Reddit user u/Busy-Needleworker-36 recently went viral on the r/pettyrevenge online group after revealing how they dealt with their roommate, who was a food thief. According to the author of the post, no amount of talking to them actually solved anything, so they needed to send a message another way. Read on for the full story.
It can be incredibly frustrating to learn that someone’s been taking your groceries without asking
Image credits: setofotografias (not the actual photo)
One person shared how they got revenge against their roommate who kept stealing their food
Image credits: nrd (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Busy-Needleworker-36
Before you go messing around with someone else’s food, consider the possible consequences
According to the author of the post, they tricked their roommate with two-week-old spoiled milk and raw eggs. The point was to get him to reconsider stealing the OP’s food.
However, as u/Busy-Needleworker-36 pointed out, things didn’t change as drastically as they would have liked. “This didn’t stop him from taking my food, but it happened less frequently,” they wrote.
The author shared in the comments that the food thief actually owned the house. The OP eventually ended up moving out “without notice,” however, one of their other roommates was stuck, and they had been dealing with their food being taken as well.
One that you have to keep in mind before you do anything similar, Pandas, is that no matter how funny it sounds in theory, you really shouldn’t be messing with food that people eat if you can help it, even if they are nasty, Lembas bread-stealing thieves.
There are always other approaches you can take, even if you really, really would prefer to prank the heck out of them until they (hopefully) become better people.
The fact of the matter is that pranks with food gone bad or mislabelled ingredients can make someone seriously ill and they could even end up in the hospital. That’s why it’s for the best that you don’t trick anyone into eating some strange concoction. A bit of harmless humor between frenemies is one thing, but food poisoning and cross-contamination are another ball game entirely.
What’s more, unless you know every single thing that your roommate is allergic to, you could accidentally cause them to have a reaction. Not only does this put your roommate in danger, but it also potentially opens you up to getting sued.
There are lots of ways to try to get your roommate to change their behavior, but not all of them might work
Of course, this doesn’t mean that food thieves should get off scot-free. Mutual respect is important in any relationship. And if someone keeps disrespecting your boundaries, you need to reestablish them and show that awful behavior has consequences.
You need to sit down and talk to your roommate about the problems they’re causing, without making it seem like you’re attacking them. Your goal is to get them to become more self-aware and to find a compromise that works for both of you. If they feel threatened, they’ll only get defensive and continue doing what they’re doing.
No matter how hard it is, try to actively listen to their side of things. If you show that you care about their perspective, you might improve the relationship with your roommate. On top of that, you might find out the real reasons why they keep taking everyone’s food without asking. The situation might be more complicated than the fact that they’re too lazy and cheap to go to the grocery store and then cook at home.
They might, for example, be low on funds, in which case it might be a good idea for the entire house to cook together. Or they might be dealing with some personal issues that make it difficult for them to leave the house and do errands. Of course, there’s always the chance that they’re simply an awful roommate, but it’s worth at least trying to hear them out.
If the food thievery doesn’t stop, it might be time to have a mediator step in. It could be another roommate, the owner of the building, or some other authority figure who could help settle the conflict. Obviously, if the stealing gets completely out of control, it might be time to get in touch with the police. But you should probably only call them when things escalate beyond someone pinching your milk and eggs.
If things don’t change no matter what you do, it might just be best to do what the author of the post did and pack and leave for greener pastures.
The author shared some more context about their roommate from hell in the comments
Here’s what some internet users had to say after reading the story
The post Person Pranks Roommate To Get Them To Stop Stealing Their Food first appeared on Bored Panda.