Comments for

Comment on Highs and Lows by TheRestOfTheStory

TheRestOfTheStory — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:20:16 +0000

How’d you guys manage with just one parking spot?

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by ijoju

ijoju — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 21:45:28 +0000

The only thing I thought crossed the line was opening the blinds in your rooms. Even other cultures have rule about privacy and personal space.

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by The OP

The OP — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:25:02 +0000

OP here. First, I’m rather surprised that the febreezing of our cat is what has garnered the most responses to know. I thought the whole blowing your nose in the sink thing would’ve tipped people off, I know it made me want to barf every time he did it.

And in response to Yvonne, we did talk to him about some of the things he did, but he usually came up with excuses (such as, he washes the sink out after blowing snot rockets into it), and continued to do them knowing full well how my brother and I felt about it.

We did try to give this guy a chance, believe me.

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by Amy

Amy — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:14:13 +0000

I don’t think that he was trying to impose any of his cultural habits onto the OP – I think by the coupons and blinds were his way of trying to be helpful in his own way. I kind of sympathize w/ the guy, especially since it can be hard understanding every single social nuance of what works and what doesn’t here in the States. I can imagine it being kind of irritating having to live with someone who you may have to constantly explain things to – but I don’t think he did anything too obscene, and its hard figuring out the behaviors that we take for granted out for some people, especially if they’re alone in a foreign country.

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by Yvonne

Yvonne — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:54:56 +0000

I really don’t find any of the things he did that awful. Maybe he Febreezed your cat because your cat was stinky and he didn’t want to hurt your feelings by telling you. It sounds like he was trying to be thoughtful and express himself a little. Even people in different parts of the same country have different customs, much less from a different country all together. Did you and your brother even try to talk to him about things that bothered you or that he should be aware of considering the change of customs, or did you just silently fume and hope your “change your ways” vibes found their way into his head?

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by RJ

RJ — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:29:19 +0000

Everyone has their own way of doing things but I think it’s rude to try to impose your own customs on others who may have grown up a different way. I’m sure many people find ways to preserve their cultural habits without imposing on others.
It’s fine to be helpful but sometimes it’s more helpful to actually determine whether something is wanted.

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by Thandi

Thandi — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:06:45 +0000

* and scuse the many typos, typing too fast

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by Thandi

Thandi — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:03:43 +0000

This is all cultural stuff he’s doind. I’m with Kate, people in other parts of the world open the blinds/ curtains during the day and close them at night!! What’s so abnormal about that? Even the windows too. Since I’ve been in the states on echange (almost a year) I’ve been depressed because my host family NEVER opens the blinds or windows. It’s like living in darkness. BUT ANYWAY, i guess it’s a cultural thing, I’ll just put up with not opening my blinds for another year.

I think he was trying to be helpful by doing that, not just doing something for himself but for others. I used to clean everybody’s rooms when I fisrt got to the States, because that’s how we do it back home. Like S leaving the coupons on the OP’s counter, he’s sharing with her, Or Febreezing the cat (it made me lol) it’s weird but I think he meant good by it, he also offered to find his own replacement so no need to bitch about that. Goodness, if you have a foreigner in your house EXPECT some differences in doing things.

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by jeaneete

jeaneete — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:22:31 +0000

Are you people kidding? That roommate sounds awful!

Comment on The Coupon Cutter by Shannon

Shannon — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:44:16 +0000

I can’t believe the backlash of the Febreeze-cat. It’s 90% water, I mist my dog with febreeze between baths, it’s very clearly marked safe for use in contact with children and pets.

Also I don’t really think this guy is that bad, he was nice enough to put forth effort to give the OP coupons, that’s thoughtful IMO.
Windows/blinds, depends on where they live. Definitely shouldn’t have gone into others’ rooms without permission.

The rest of the stuff doesn’t seem like his fault.