'Tis the season for graduation. So now what? Whether you've freshly finished earning your degree, or you're heading straight out of high school into the workplace, you're going to need to say goodbye to a full refrigerator and free laundry detergent. Yes, folks... it's time to leave your parent's house. Now you must determine whether or not living with a roommate will work for you. The following quiz will help you see if you can handle sharing your living space.

1. You come home after a bad day at work to an apartment full of people. The music is blaring, the people are loud, and they don't look like they're leaving any time soon. You:

a) take your roommate aside and tell him how angry you are that he threw a party without okaying it through you
b) go to your room, shut the door and cry.
c) pop in one of your CD's and join in
d) go to your room, put in some earplugs and crawl into bed for the night

2. You need to make a phone call to catch up with your significant other. You make the call

a) in your room with your door shut
b) in the closet with a towel shoved underneath the door (what you say is no one's business but your own)
c) in the living room while your roommate cooks dinner in the kitchen and occasionally interjects into the conversation
d) when your roommate has gone to the grocery store

3. There is a trash can in the kitchen filled with sour food... but it's your roommate's turn to take out the trash.

a) You take out the trash for him... but leave the dishes dirty on your night to do the dishes.
b) You ignore the trash until your friend comes over, complains of the smell and empties it for you
c) You take out the trash and remind your roommate that next time he forgets to do it, you'll leave it in his bed.
d) You become irritated about the whole situation and it reminds you of the time your roommate didn't hang up his laundry and you had to do it for him, or that other time when he left the oven on and you were gone all day... or that time he left that pizza in his room and it molded and stunk up the house--or that other time...

4. Your roommate has the flu. You

a) Keep him company, but whine about the chances of getting sick yourself, and how you can't afford to miss any work
b) Call your mom and ask what she recommends for a cure
c) rent a couple of funny movies and buy a few boxes of tissues and some cough drops for your roommate
d) stay at a friend's house until he gets better.

5. Your roommate puts together a dinner. He invited several of his friends and you. You haven't ever met his friends. You are most likely to

a) sit back and observe - interjecting only when directly asked a question
b) enjoy the meal but not necessarily the company
c) open up to his friends and have a good time chit chatting
d) "eat and run"

6. You and your roommate get into an argument because he used the alarm and didn't reset it, so you were an hour late for work.

a) You get over it after a few days, but still bring it up to pick at your roommate in future arguments "Oh, yeah? Well what about that time you made me late for work?!"
b) You invite your brother out for coffee, then gripe about your roommate for an hour
c) After a couple of days, you forget what the argument was about and move on.
d) Buy another alarm and hide it from your roommate

7. Your roommate was in a cleaning mood and she rearranged the entire kitchen. You

a) thank her... then start to nitpick. "why are the dish towels next to the oven instead of next to the sink?", "why didn't you..."
b) can't find anything anymore, so you put everything back in it's original place.
c) are ecstatic. Thank God you don't have to mess with cleaning that mess!
d) turn each of the bottles of spices so that the labels face in the same direction

8. You come home and hear your roommate crying. You

a) ask what's wrong... but when she says "nothing" you don't ask again
b) let her cry... if she needs you, she'll come to you. What's going on with her is her business.
c) Ask what's wrong. When she says "nothing" you ask if she's SURE, and if she still says no you give her a hug and say "Well, you know where I am if you need me."
d) act like you don't hear her and turn on the T.V.

If you picked:

MOSTLY A's - Having a roommate will take some getting used to... but you should be able to handle it. You enjoy your privacy and if you find the right roommate, you should be able to keep most things private. You don't like people you don't really know brought into your environment... but once you get past that first awkward stage, you do okay. You will do better off if you live with an old friend - someone you're already comfortable with and who is willing to live with your picky personality and love you anyway. Do NOT try to find a roommate through an agent locator service. You will only drive each other crazy.

MOSTLY B's - You aren't quite ready to leave home yet. You like to be taken care of. Overall, you generally keep to yourself. You don't like confrontations. You're incredibly close to your family... which isn't always a bad thing. But do you really want to invite your date back to your place for a cup of coffee and some cuddling in front of the fire... and your parents?! If you are financially dependent on your parents, try to wean yourself off of them. You might consider paying them rent. If you've lived under your parent's wings your entire life, it will be hard to become independent... but you have to do it sometime.

MOSTLY C's - You're more than ready to get out in the real world, and you're probably ready for whatever kind of roommate you run in to. You've got a great sense of humor, but if the situation calls for seriousness, you're responsible enough to handle it. You're very flexible and open minded. You aren't afraid to meet new people or try new things. If you can't find any friends that need a roommate, you might consider checking out one of those roommate locator services.

MOSTLY D's - Living with a roommate is not necessarily for you. Unless you can find someone who has a schedule opposite from your own, you'll probably be happier living in a smaller apartment by yourself. You keep to yourself, and you like it that way. You don't like change. You like things to be organized a certain way. You'd rather make coffee at home than go to Starbuck's. You're definitely not a social butterfly. Living with a roommate would make you feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, that paycheck from Burger World might not give you any option but to search for a roommate who's either just like you or works late when you work early.

Published: May 19, 2000

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