Flatmate fight: I was in the right, yes?

Scroll to see replies

I'd definitely say she overreacted - you made a mistake and apologised but it seems to have gone way too far. However, you weren't entirely innocent in this case. As Segat1 says, there are a lot of things involved in having a shared house run smoothly, and as someone new, it's your responsibility to find out how all these bits and bobs work - if someone has special mugs or whatever; if someone else will let you use their milk but god forbid you use their special jam... Never assume anything. Also, while I wouldn't mind if someone borrowed my stuff, I WOULD mind if they kept it in their room for "a while" (hours? days? weeks?) and only gave it back when I specifically came round to ask - if she was a shyer person, she might think she'd never have got it back at all. It IS only a mug, but you did take it and not return it (in her eyes).

I get around this by using the umpteen "novelty" mugs with my name on that I've been given over the years. That way nobody can pretend they didn't know who it belonged to. Of course this got a bit complicated this year as my flatmate and I have the same name and the same novelty mugs!

So basically, you weren't really doing anything hugely bad, but you could have been more considerate.