Courter: Things I wish my kids would ask me

Friday, October 11, 2013

Editor's note: Barry Courter has a 24-year-old son who is a college graduate and a 19-year-old daughter who is a sophomore in college.

Q: Dad, One of my three roommates refuses to buy toilet paper. What should we do?

A: A classic roommate situation. Putting four people who had not met until a few months ago into one living space is bound to reveal differences and eventually drama. Some people do dishes and some people don't. Some like to share and some don't. These situations usually fix themselves one of two ways: Either everyone ignores it until there is a blowup, or all of you sit down and calmly discuss a few rules and expectations. I guess a third option is that the three of you could hide your own personal stash, but that seems silly. I'd suggest talking it out.