'We were living in a maggot-infested house'

A student's humorous account of a downside to sharing with strangers

'Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room within the bin and pizza box area' Photograph:iStockphoto/Getty Images
'Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room within the bin and pizza box area' Photograph:iStockphoto/Getty Images

Student accommodation can often be a stressful and frustrating place of residence.  Generally speaking there are about four different types of people which make up the diverse living arrangements.

First off there is the slob.

The slob does not care for one's possessions, will leave their ketchup stained plates brewing for weeks, will let cheese turn green in the fridge, survive mostly on pizza and will definitely not bring out the bins.

'Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room within the bin and pizza box area' Photograph:iStockphoto/Getty Images
'Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room within the bin and pizza box area' Photograph:iStockphoto/Getty Images
Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room. Photograph: iStockphoto/Getty Images
Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room. Photograph: iStockphoto/Getty Images

Next, we have the clean freak.

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The clean freak and the slob do not see eye-to-eye. They will use their colour coded chopping boards to efficiently make a home cooked meal, will clean up and neatly put back equipment to its rightful place, will have slight OCD on what way things should be placed, will spray the room with air freshener and will most certainly bring out the bins.

After that we have the non-carer.

This is a balance of the clean freak and the slob. Likes a good take-away, might dispose of rubbish or clean up depending on mood, will not be bothered if things are messy, dirty or mouldy, likes when the clean freak takes care of things and will bring out the bins once every six weeks and speak about how they always do it.

Finally there is the ghost.

The ghost is rarely seen or heard, leaves mini messes in kitchen but in a way that doesn’t look like it was them, will blame things on other people, and doesn’t know the bin has to be taken out.

Not every household will have each of these characters. It’s luck of the draw what combination you end up with. Once I unfortunately got landed with two slobs and two non-carers. This was an unhealthy balance.  Within weeks of the bins piling up, the dishes not being washed and the floor not being swept a maggot infestation began in the corner of the room within the bin and pizza box area. Yes disgusting savages. We were living in a maggot-infested house.

Masks on and bleach out a de-maggot intervention began, dishes cleaned and bins out.

About three hours later a plate with left-over spag bol remaining on it was placed beside the sink, followed later by another plate, a bowl and a half cup of tea for the cycle to begin again.

Some (the clean-freaks) would question why could one not just keep a constant clean house instead of the disgusting build-up of rubbish.

The slobs would probably be too lazy to answer.

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