When housemates go bad.
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This site is a little project that lets me make fun of some things and sense of others. I use it to think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.

You, too can earn a living with visuals.
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December 11th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Jessica — I’m sure you get this more often than you like but its the first time I’m writing in — so here goes :
I LOVE YOUR WORK — WILL YOU MARRY ME ??
December 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
True that, which is why I live alone…
But umm, not to be a stickler, but dishes should probably be on the x axis as that is the independent variable…passive aggression doesn’t lead to dishes “mouldering”, but the other way around…unless there’s a joke here I fail to get
December 11th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Reminds me of my college housemates back in the 80’s. My solution was what I called “Supply Side Dishwashing”. This was during the Reagan era, after all.
I was as guilty as the others for leaving dishes in the sink, and to deal with that problem we had a lot of dishes in the house. Unlike my housemates, I wanted to do my part. So before washing dishes, I would go through the cabinets and drawers and find out what was still available clean. Then I would wash all of the dirties of only those items. E.g., if there were still clean bowls, I would wash all the dirty bowls. If there were no clean glasses, i would NOT wash glasses.
My rationale was that it would force my housemates to wash something so that they could then use it.
Looking back, yeah, I guess it was passive-aggressive.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Sooo true…and the passive aggression should definitely by the X-Axis. Passive aggressive roommates (I’m guilty on occasion) will leave dishes in the sink to “wait the other one out” and as a result they become moldy. I.e. a former roommate of mine left a huge set of dishes he used for a party in the sink and took off for christmas break…I packed them up and put them in his bedroom…
December 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
That is the most original FIRST post I have ever seen…
December 11th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Terry - Stop automatically stereotyping dependent axes. I don’t tolerate axisism, and I hope one day that the rest of the world can learn to appreciate unique dependent axes for what they are.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Fits all of my previous 3 roommate experiences to a T.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Ha ha. I had a roommate that once left a pot of mac’n'cheese on the counter for three days. It was getting moldy. I put the pot on her pillow while she was out. When I came back after class she’d cleaned the entire kitchen spotless. I guess I’m pretty passive-aggressive.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I’ve been on both sides of this.
Amen, I say. Amen.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I thought it was quite clever putting ‘passive aggression’ on the x-axis. And on the flip-side, you could put “tolerance” (or “apathy”) on the x-axis as well. That would described my house.
December 11th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Not true. Our dishes are generally washed up every evening.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
So that’s what my wife is up to, eh? Well, I’m on to her little scheme now. TWO can play at that game.
December 11th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
The exchnge between Terry and DannyDeranged might be the best comment exchange ever. Just to let you know the geeks who read you Jessica. On a side note, if I weren’t married I might be proposing to DannyDeranged.
Wonderful graph, as always!
December 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Wow, that brings back memories of the Great Dirty Dish Wars of 1998.
December 11th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
How about “you put the toaster back the wrong way. The handle is supposed to be on the left side”.
December 11th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
But I live alone, and I have a sink full of dirty dishes… guess I’m being passively aggressive to myself.
AND it’s probably also why I’m alone.
December 11th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Lol. This is exactly what’s going on in my apartment, as we speak!
December 12th, 2008 at 7:08 am
passive aggression has a limit. it is not a continous function.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Terry, Pat etc: I beg to differ - passive aggression and unwashed dishes are surely co-dependent (people are less considerate of surly housemates), although non-washing-up *is* probably causally dominant.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
[...] read this site every day. This entry was especially funny. It made me think of the time in college one roommate refused to do dishes. It [...]
December 15th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
This doesn’t typically happen with spouses because we can use sex as a weapon.
December 16th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
HAH! Sexlessness and dirty dishes is a good combo. Apparently the above commenter has a better than average spouse.
And Maximo–tell that to my husband!
December 16th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Definitely don’t exclude the “housemates” who have a marriage certificate!
December 17th, 2008 at 4:29 am
If I post this up next to the sink will I take the passive-aggressiveness to a new level?
December 17th, 2008 at 5:45 am
“passive aggression has a limit.”
You obviously don’t know my mom!
December 20th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I’ve long said that a dishwasher is essential to harmonious roommate relations.
December 26th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Oh wow, I’ve been there before. Why are your friends so much less likely to complain to your face when you live together..?
February 13th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
[...] HT: Indexed [...]
March 5th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Maldito Ésquilo!