MOVING IS RIDICULOUSLY stressful.
In fact, if you’ve ever sat on the floor of your bedroom surrounded by boxes, binbags and black sacks, and wondered how in the name of Christ you ever accumulated so much stuff, you know the horror of changing address.
And while the practicalities are stressful enough in themselves, there’s also the added fear when you’re moving in with a group of strangers.
Unless you’ve been particularly fortunate and only ever lived with people you knew and liked, there will come a point in most people’s lives when geographical and financial circumstance take precedence, and you will have to live with people you don’t know from Adam.
This can generally go one of three ways, people.
You immediately make a new gang of best mates, you remain a group of strangers with little to no interest in each other’s lives, or – and this is the most heinous one – you find yourself on the edge of an already well-established group.
If the last one is giving you Nam-like flashbacks, you’ll definitely recognise the following stresses of moving in with a clique straight out a US high school movie.
It might not be outwardly antagonistic, but Christ, it’s awkward AF.
1. They had certain TV nights.
In fact, almost every night is devoted to a different television show, and any attempts to deviate from this rota are not well received.
God knows you tried to get involved, but Made in Chelsea marathons were more than flesh and blood could stand, and you often just found yourself retreating to your room.
2. They had in-jokes.
Most housemates will have a WhatsApp group for general chit-chat, and once you’re added, you really realise how close this group already is.
Every joke appears to be an in-joke, so you generally only contribute when milk is needed.
3. You weren’t on the same page when it came to cleaning.
The matter of housework is an absolute minefield when you live with strangers. And it’s even worse when you’re the one joining the house.
You want to be seen to be pulling your weight, but you also don’t want to raise the bar too high on your first shift on the rota because Christ knows, you won’t be able to maintain it.
4. And you didn’t know where the hell you stood on communal household items.
Living with strangers throws up so many issues you simply don’t consider when you live with friends and family.
Are the laundry pods beneath the sink for communal use? And what about things like cooking oil and butter? Yes, you can ask, but you don’t want to seem like a scab who can’t even shell out for their own damn pods.
5. The heating bill was a constant source of tension.
The fear of flicking that switch for the first time is all too real.
And if you’ve been unfortunate enough to have your arrival in the house coincide with an extra-large heating bill, you have our deepest sympathies.
6. You loved nothing more than hearing you’ll have the house to yourself for an evening.
You really realise how little you click with your new housemates when the thought of them all leaving for an evening is music to your ears.
With the final slam of the door, you can actually feel your entire body relax.
7. You began relying on notes to communicate.
The fact that you feel like you’re intruding when you even so much as enter a room they’re convened in means that your verbal interactions become relatively limited.
And as mortified as you are to admit it, there were times when you left a note instead of broaching a subject in person.
8. You spent as much time out of the house as possible.
Chilling out at home all day just isn’t really an option when you don’t click with your new housemates.
As a result, you’re never really at home, and spend half your time in a mate’s house complaining about your new gaff.
9. You kept a permanent eye on property websites.
Within a few days of unpacking, you knew that the tension was not just first-week nerves on either side.
And rather than beat a dead horse, you got right back to house-hunting.
