Monday Manners: Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

Once upon a time, Monday Manners covered a few key points on the topic of roommates—many of which are reasons that some people, myself included, end up looking for studio or one-bedroom apartments. And while that column covered shared spaces, it didn't cover shared stuff. Specifically, foodstuffs.

Everyone's roommate situation is different. Some people shop together with their roommates, splitting the grocery bill on common items like milk, coffee, or olive oil. Others trade off on the purchasing duties of these items. Still others buy their own, which sometimes means over-full refrigerators and kitchen cabinets, but also means that there won't be any fights about whether 1% milk is an appropriate compromise between 2% and skim, or whether Folgers or Taster's Choice is a better choice for cheap coffee.

But no matter who's buying, there's going to be a good deal of sharing. You're sharing your living quarters, so why not? The trick comes in being well-mannered about your sharing habits. Your roommate bought a bag of Chips Ahoy! cookies and offered some to you, but you were having a bad day and ended up stress eating your way through the whole bag once he went to bed? You'd better plan on buying another bag the next day. And then letting your roommate eat all of them, if he wants. That's right: you don't get to eat a single cookie unless you're invited to partake. It's only fair. Ditto for milk, orange juice, coffee, olive oil, or anything else that's a collective item in your kitchen—only you are allowed to consume the replacements for things like this: the non-special, non-splurge things.

Above all, courtesy is what counts. Leaving a tablespoon of milk in the carton so that you technically didn't finish it, thereby leaving your roommate with pretty dry cereal and in charge of replacing the milk that you used in yours is inappropriate and rude. Keeping nearly empty jars of peanut butter in the cabinet because you're still able to scrape the edges with a finger doesn't mean that there's still peanut butter left when your roommate asks, but it can mean a very annoyed and hungry roommate come lunchtime. If you notice that you're running low on something, try picking it up on your way home—or at least giving your roommate a heads-up that your stocks are dwindling, in case roomie will be going to the store before you get there. And maybe, just maybe, come lease renewal time, your roommate won't be looking for a place with a kitchen to himself.

Image via Food Mall.