If diplomacy doesn’t get your roommate to change their bad habits, a few not-so-subtle pranks might make them reconsider their behavior.

Reddit user u/Busy-Needleworker-36 recently went viral on the r/pettyrevenge online group after revealing how they dealt with their roommate, who was a food thief. According to the author of the post, no amount of talking to them actually solved anything, so they needed to send a message another way. Read on for the full story.

Bored Panda reached out to the author of the post, u/Busy-Needleworker-36, and they were kind enough to share a few more thoughts about the roommate from hell they lived with. Check out our interview with the OP below.

It can be incredibly frustrating to learn that someone’s been taking your groceries without asking

Image credits: setofotografias (not the actual photo)

One person shared how they got revenge against their roommate who kept stealing their food

Image credits: BP (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Busy-Needleworker-36

The problems started almost immediately after moving in

We were interested to find out more about the dynamic between the author of the post and their former roommate. We were curious how long they lived together.

“I lived with that roommate for about five months. This was a regular occurrence that started right away,” they said that the trouble with food getting taken started almost immediately.

“In the beginning, I didn’t mind because I thought he really was going to replace the food. I never could figure out why he didn’t stop. It was his personality, I guess,” redditor u/Busy-Needleworker-36 told Bored Panda.

What complicated things further was that the food thief was the OP’s boss at work in the military. “When anyone was going to the store on base for lunch, he would ask them to pick something up for them, say he would pay them back, but never did,” the author said.

“And never returned the favor. If he went to the store, he didn’t offer to get anyone else food.”

According to the author, they noticed their food being taken “within the first week” and they mentioned the issue right away.

Meanwhile, Bored Panda wanted to get the OP’s thoughts on what someone should keep in mind before moving in with a roommate.

“If someone is looking at a roommate situation, I would bring up ground rules upfront,” Reddit user u/Busy-Needleworker-36 said.

“I didn’t think this was something necessary to discuss, but looking back, I wish I would have talked about this, a cleaning schedule, and quiet hours.”

Image credits: nrd (not the actual photo)

Before you go messing around with someone else’s food, consider the possible consequences

According to the author of the post, they tricked their roommate with two-week-old spoiled milk and raw eggs. The point was to get him to reconsider stealing the OP’s food.

However, as u/Busy-Needleworker-36 pointed out, things didn’t change as drastically as they would have liked. “This didn’t stop him from taking my food, but it happened less frequently,” they wrote.

The author shared in the comments that the food thief actually owned the house. The OP eventually ended up moving out “without notice,” however, one of their other roommates was stuck, and they had been dealing with their food being taken as well.

One that you have to keep in mind before you do anything similar, Pandas, is that no matter how funny it sounds in theory, you really shouldn’t be messing with food that people eat if you can help it, even if they are sneaky, Lembas bread-stealing thieves.

There are always other approaches you can take, even if you really, really would prefer to prank the heck out of them until they (hopefully) become better people.

The fact of the matter is that pranks with food gone bad or mislabelled ingredients can make someone seriously ill and they could even end up in the hospital. That’s why it’s for the best that you don’t trick anyone into eating some strange concoction. A bit of harmless humor between frenemies like in the post is one thing, but food poisoning and cross-contamination are another ball game entirely.

What’s more, unless you know every single thing that your roommate is allergic to, you could accidentally cause them to have a reaction. Not only does this put your roommate in danger, but it also potentially opens you up to getting sued and other repercussions.

Image credits: FabrikaPhoto (not the actual photo)

There are lots of ways to try to get your roommate to change their behavior, but not all of them might work

Of course, this doesn’t mean that food thieves should get off scot-free. Mutual respect is important in any relationship. And if someone keeps disrespecting your boundaries, you need to reestablish them and show that awful behavior has consequences.

You need to sit down and talk to your roommate about the problems they’re causing, without making it seem like you’re attacking them. Your goal is to get them to become more self-aware and to find a compromise that works for both of you. If they feel threatened, they’ll only get defensive and continue doing what they’re doing.

No matter how hard it is, try to actively listen to their side of things. If you show that you care about their perspective, you might improve the relationship with your roommate. On top of that, you might find out the real reasons why they keep taking everyone’s food without asking. The situation might be more complicated than the fact that they’re too lazy and cheap to go to the grocery store and then cook at home.

They might, for example, be low on funds, in which case it might be a good idea for the entire house to cook together. Or they might be dealing with some personal issues that make it difficult for them to leave the house and do errands. Of course, there’s always the chance that they’re simply an awful roommate, but it’s worth at least trying to hear them out.

If the food thievery doesn’t stop, it might be time to have a mediator step in. It could be another roommate, the owner of the building, or some other authority figure who could help settle the conflict. Obviously, if the stealing gets completely out of control, it might be time to get in touch with the police. But you should probably only call them when things escalate beyond someone pinching your milk and eggs.

If things don’t change no matter what you do, it might just be best to do what the author of the post did and pack and leave for greener pastures. Diplomacy only works with people who are willing to be reasonable.

The author shared some more context about their roommate from hell in the comments

Here’s what some internet users had to say after reading the story

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