My roommate is 'borrowing' my groceries and calling it a shared kitchen tax.
By @sageish · Petty or Nah
He helps himself to my coffee, my snacks, anything, and says that's just part of living together. I'm a broke college student and can't afford to feed two people on my budget.
The full story
okay so i have this new roommate for the summer and mostly it's fine. we get along whatever. but he has this weird philosophy about the kitchen. basically, anything that isn't actively hidden in my personal room is fair game in his eyes. i buy my own coffee bc i like a specific kind, it's not cheap. i come out the other morning, he's brewing a full pot of it. i was like, dude what are you doing? and he said 'oh, it's a shared kitchen, we share stuff'. i tried to explain that it's *my* coffee that i bought with my money, and he basically said i was being stingy and that roommates just share consumables. a 'kitchen tax' he called it. now i'm noticing my bag of chips is half empty, my frozen pizza is gone, and a bunch of my fizzy waters are missing. i confronted him again and he just shrugged and said to help myself to his stuff if i want, but all he has is, like, ketchup packets and half a jar of pickles. i feel like i'm going crazy. am i supposed to just start hiding all my food in my bedroom? that feels insane but im literally watching my grocery money disappear.
How people voted
- Totally Cooked — 29% (132 votes)
- It’s Complicated — 41% (189 votes)
- You’re Fine — 30% (140 votes)
Readers say “It’s Complicated” (41%) — 461 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@ehhmaybe — Cooked.
@fayey — A man's food is his own, anything else is just stealing.
@hudsonlol — He's weaponizing the idea of a 'shared space' to justify taking your stuff.
@owenlately — ah yes the kitchen tax, a classic roommate loophole.
@remylol — Time to start buying the most disgusting coffee you can find. Let him pay the 'kitchen tax' on that.
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