English & Filth

Firstly, let me just make a disclaimer that I bear no bias against any one mentioned in this entry. It's just my thoughts and feelings which have been building for a while.

Anyway, this week has been a whirl of activity, yet inactivity. Monday was bank holiday. Tues, went down to AMH for neurological teaching, and clerked a patient as well. Headed down to school after that for choir practice.My gosh... this term, we're singing Latin tunes for almost all the pieces!! Wed, had lectures in the morning. Wanted to go down to AMH in the afternoon to see a lunbar puncture. However, inertia took a hold of me, as a result, I went to the bank, then went home, and took a longgggg nap (~3 hrs), which is actually kind of average for me. =P Thursday, didn't go down for outpatient clinic, so sat down and did a bit of work in the morning, then headed down to school to teach clinical skills for the year 1s and 2s. This week was cranial nerves and peripheral nerves, which is pretty good revision for me, since I'm doing my neurology firm at the moment. =) Today (Friday), had lectures in the morning again, then went to AMH for a rehabilitation visit at the Wolfson for stroke patients. Very specialised facilities and staff. Came home, and wanted to start on work, but as usual, had inertia. Ended up watching Ms Congeniality again. Had a good laugh, and now i'm here typing this.

As this entry states, do English and Filth go together? I remember, in my first year, when I was staying in halls, out of the whole house of 20 people, if you go to each level, the kitchen sink will virtually be a mess of unwashed utensils and dirty muck clogging up the area, etc. Thought that when I live in private housing, this will not happen, at least not in abundance. Then I moved into this lovely terrace house at Colliers Wood, with my own cosy little room, at the start of the 2nd year. The 2 girls still staying have been staying here for a year already. During that 2nd year, think we were a bit wary and cautious with one another, as they seldom came home so noisy, esp after partying, and they would always apologize to us the day after. Also, A and T (both my housemates) were not that filthy. T (an Indian) was brought up in a strict home where everything was tidy and clean, so there wasn't any problem there. A, on the other hand, is from Liverpool, and is Caucasian. Therefore, shall I add... she is also filthy. She wasn't that bad last year, as T was around to make sure that the house does not get too dirty. However, now that T is living with her boyfriend at the moment (she still has a room here though), A has become more untidy, filthy. She leaves her plates and utensils, and sometimes, half-eaten food on the tables, the sofa, the floor of our lounge, not bothering to wash up for as long as a week! For the first few times, I would be 'kind enough' to bring everything down and wash up, hoping that she gets the message of trying to be cleaner. After that, I just gave up. K and I both leave the dishes there for her to wash up. K and I would sometimes have a bet on when the dirty utensils would be washed up. Even then, it isn't washed properly, with stains on the edges of the plate, etc.

What I'm peeved about was what happened last week, when her friend, and my friend both came over around the same time, the bank holiday weekend. For the past year and a half, I thought we had this unwritten agreement that if any of us are having friends over, there will not be any dirty dishes lying around, and the house would at least look clean, and not look like a rubbish dump! At least that has been the case for the past year. However, this weekend was different. We both knew our friends were coming over, and she bothered to clean her room, yet the communal areas such as the lounge and the kitchen and the dining room was left untouched! I had cleared whatever mess I had caused, which isn't much, coz I usually wash the dishes and cooking equipment right after I finish my meal. The rest of the mess in the house was hers, BUT i refuse to clear her mess!! As such, my friend came over to a slightly messy place, but I explained, and she understood. =)

So this is what irks me: She KNOWS she leaves a mess, piling on the dirty dishes, leaving the cleaning to a few days later. And yet, when she watched 'Britain Filthiest Homes' on TV some time last week, she exclaimed that it looks like our house, and she knows that it is basically her mess. Therefore, she cleaned up the bathroom and the microwave oven, (of which I'm grateful), when for the past year, she didn't even do any housework to clean the house, even though T had drawn up a cleaning rota! I have been cleaning and vacuuming the house and the kitchen, of which is also occasionally done by K, another housemate (Singaporean).

And so the problem lies: CLEAR UP YOUR DAMN MESS!! I don't mind if you mess up your own room. That is your own business. But be considerate and leave the communal areas, such as the dining room, kitchen and lounge CLEAN! You're sharing the house with other as well, you know! And don't complain about the house having spiders or ants or rats. That's becoz the house is dirty, and it's YOUR FILTHY MESS! Bloody hell..... I can understand if you leave the dishes for a day or 2, but not a damn whole week! Then again, you may ask: why not just talk to her? Explain to her? Well... the answer to that is that I don't want any bad feelings between us, esp since I'm intending on staying here till I graduate! Besides, I have tried giving her hints, making it blatantly clear that all the dirty utensils lying around is unwanted. Moreover, another friend is coming over for dinner tomorrow, so I told her this afternoon, hoping that she will clear up her mess. But she just looked at me, as if saying 'so??' I almost wanted to yell at her to clear up her mess. I mean, Come on! She is already 22, for heaven's sake. Even if she doesn't have maturity, surely she should have some common sense, or consideration??

Is this too much to ask? Am I just being very fussy about cleanliness? I mean, it's my house too. I would think I have a right to wish for a clean house, right? Well, I guess this is what you learn when you live independently, overseas. You can get good housemates, or bad ones. Some you can click with, some you can't. But most of all, whether you can cope with their living habits. Right now, I'm not at the end of my tether or anything near it, just that I am extremely irritated by it, becoz as mature individuals, and as future doctors, one would think that one has a sense of hygiene and cleanliness, as well as consideration. Maybe I'm asking for too much. Then again, I think not. It's not much asking for a clean house to live in. If I really cannot stand it, I would move out, which was my thoughts at this end of this year's contract, but because I won't be here when the contract ends, and it involves all the packing, and I don't know what kind of housemates I'll get, I think I'd rather not take the chance, for now at least.

Well, just have to see what happens before tomorrow night, if the dishes have been cleared. If not, then I'll just have to tell her to clear it. After all, it is MY house too.

| Zena caught a falling star on 10:16 pm.