I'm thinking a dollop of milk in your tea or coffee is fine.
Maybe grab a hotdog or a slice of cheese.
Anything going bad is free game. After all there's starving kids in China.
But what is crossing the line? Canned foods is okay to eat as long as you throw the can out in the outside trash.
Take out food is okay to eat but only one bite of each item in the tray.
Discus.
Take their food and then just tell them you were really hungry and didn't think they'd mind.
You'll find out quickly how much they will care.
It is acceptable to eat anything of theirs that they give you permission to eat. If you're an adult, it shouldn't be that hard to have a conversation and ask "hey, is it okay if I have some of your milk?" Actually, scratch that, if you are over the age of 8, this conversation should be pretty easy to have.
Two parts to the question:
1. What is acceptable
2. When will they notice
Two different answers
I am pretty sure that most flatmates would not like you eating food off of them. I mean that is going to get really messy.
HairyCary wrote:
Anything going bad is free game. After all there's starving kids in China.
Discus.
How does your being an "a-hole" help that starving child in China?
Luv2Run wrote:
HairyCary wrote:
Anything going bad is free game. After all there's starving kids in China.
Discus.
How does your being an "a-hole" help that starving child in China?
Never understood that logic as a kid, I would often want to stop eating with food still on my plate and my parent's would say something along the lines of, "eat up, their are starving kids in Africa." Like, WTF?
HairyCary wrote:
I'm thinking a dollop of milk in your tea or coffee is fine.
Maybe grab a hotdog or a slice of cheese.
Anything going bad is free game. After all there's starving kids in China.
But what is crossing the line? Canned foods is okay to eat as long as you throw the can out in the outside trash.
Take out food is okay to eat but only one bite of each item in the tray.
Discus.
That seems reasonable. What is the acceptable amount of money to steal off your flatmates before that get upset?
3/10
Depends on if they are family.....my sister in-law has been bumming a room off of us for almost a year, and she routine will use an entire box of cereal, and a gallon of milk, that I bought, or eat apples without asking, these are $2.5/pound, not nothing, plus she pays $90 a month....in an area where a room goes for roughly $650-$800/month.... do I notice, YES, is it acceptable....I don't know...my better half won't say anything to his sister. He doesn't respond when I mention it either... oh well... That's what I get for doing the food shopping, I know how much things costs...
Are you buying groceries and they are eating your food as well?
Everything is fair game as long as it's equitable. Dont eat all their food and leave the cubbards bare. Don't eat all their Lucky Charms and think that your off brand Cheerios is a suitable replacement.
If everyone is being fair about what they are contributing and consuming, it shouldn't be a problem.
Notes:
Some roommates are jerks and know exactly when you've eaten their food will be pissed at you and never forget it. Leave their food alone, it's more trouble than it's worth.
If there are existing tensions in the apartment over other issues, taking of food can become a flashpoint.
HairyCary wrote:
I'm thinking a dollop of milk in your tea or coffee is fine.
Maybe grab a hotdog or a slice of cheese.
Anything going bad is free game. After all there's starving kids in China.
But what is crossing the line? Canned foods is okay to eat as long as you throw the can out in the outside trash.
Take out food is okay to eat but only one bite of each item in the tray.
Discus.
Clean the dishes or vacuum, real boring drone work and they won't care if it's not steak and champagne.
Scorekeeper wrote:
Are you buying groceries and they are eating your food as well?
Yes, the 'nanners go missing all the time. They buy organic, I buy conventional and I only eat half a banana at a time so I know which ones are mine easily.
Also, said roommate has thrown out some items of mine for no reason. Condiments go missing and such during purges of the fridge which she thinks is a replacement for actually cleaning the fridge.
Butter of mine gets used all the time.
The milk is a tricky one. People have different preferences of sourness. I've never cured out milk in my life. If it starts to go bad I'll drink it right then. Roommate waits until it is very bad then throws out half a gallon of milk EVERY WEEK. Or did until I started using some.
I don't understand why you wouldn't just ask your roommates directly. Here's what a conversation between adults might sound like:
Me: "Hey, I see you got stuff to make burgers. Mind if I make myself one?"
Roommate: "Sure, go for it."
Me: "Thanks! Do you want me to make one for you as well."
Roommate: "Yeah, that sounds good."
Or alternatively
Me: "Hey, I see you got stuff to make burgers. Mind if I make myself one?"
Roommate: "Actually, I'm saving the burgers for when my friends come over tomorrow. Sorry."
Me: "No problem. I'll eat my own food."
I don't understand how you can be living in an apartment with another human being and yet be unable to have such a simple conversation.
communication wrote:
I don't understand why you wouldn't just ask your roommates directly. Here's what a conversation between adults might sound like:
Me: "Hey, I see you got stuff to make burgers. Mind if I make myself one?"
Roommate: "Sure, go for it."
Me: "Thanks! Do you want me to make one for you as well."
Roommate: "Yeah, that sounds good."
Or alternatively
Me: "Hey, I see you got stuff to make burgers. Mind if I make myself one?"
Roommate: "Actually, I'm saving the burgers for when my friends come over tomorrow. Sorry."
Me: "No problem. I'll eat my own food."
I don't understand how you can be living in an apartment with another human being and yet be unable to have such a simple conversation.
I think it has more to do with what is reasonable when they are not around. If you start eating someone's food without asking when they are sitting in the other room, you are just being a jerk.
Scorekeeper wrote:
I think it has more to do with what is reasonable when they are not around. If you start eating someone's food without asking when they are sitting in the other room, you are just being a jerk.
Ok, so again, talk to the person and come to an agreement. I've had two different roommates over the first two years of med school. It was incredibly simple to come to agreements with each of them regarding the food situation.
With my first roommate, we'd go grocery shopping together and then split the bill 50/50. Then we'd both just eat whatever we wanted from the food we'd bought. My second roommate and I did our shopping separately and got our own food, but we'd frequently offer our food to each other. In two years living with roommates, I've never even come close to having a problem over food.
If something hasn't been offered and you haven't asked for it, just don't eat it. I don't really understand why this is challenging. You're an adult with the ability to procure your own food, and presumably ~half of the food in the home is yours. Just eat your own stuff instead of theirs if no specific agreement has been reached.
:
my parent's would say something along the lines of, "eat up, their are starving kids in Africa." Like, WTF?[/quote]
Right! Who would say, “THEIR are starving kids in Africa?” Only an illiterate Moran, that’s who.
northeast runner lady wrote:
Depends on if they are family.....my sister in-law has been bumming a room off of us for almost a year, and she routine will use an entire box of cereal, and a gallon of milk, that I bought, or eat apples without asking, these are $2.5/pound, not nothing, plus she pays $90 a month....in an area where a room goes for roughly $650-$800/month.... do I notice, YES, is it acceptable....I don't know...my better half won't say anything to his sister. He doesn't respond when I mention it either... oh well... That's what I get for doing the food shopping, I know how much things costs...
Props to you for not letting this be a bigger issue. This would be infuriating
Libs don't want to hear it, but it's your responsibility to feed yourself. If you are old enough to be living in an apartment with your own name on the lease, you shouldn't be expecting your roommate or anyone else to subsidize your food.
Is HairyCary a brit? It would make sense because brits are notorious mooches. They have a deep seated propensity to sponge due to their national history of leaching off of other countries. Now that they no longer have colonials supplying them with the entirety of their wealth, they are themselves a third world country.
The answer to the original post is to never leech other's food. Get a job and buy your own damn food. Quit being a parasite.
How about NONE, you dumb-ass parasite!