I picked up my laptop and walked over to my bed to write this lol. She just looked over at me oh my gosh, how does she know? I really could have picked a more secretive title but nahhhhhh. Honesty is the best policy or something like that. Anyways, yeah this blog is inspired by my overthinking and UMBC dorms, shoutout to you all.
Okay, so I’m quite a curvy woman. What can I say, it’s in my genes. Naturally, this means I take up more space as I have some meat on my bone. Surprisingly, this is something I am still getting used to even though I’ve lived in this body for a while. I digress, my roommate is skinny WHICH ISN’T A PROBLEM but it means we take up space differently. I need to give you guys a visual about what I’m about to get into.
Here is our marvelous bathroom that we share with two other people. Pretty neat right??? Wrong. It’s incredibly small. And yes, I sound ungrateful for having a working bathroom and all but…who the hell were these bathrooms made for? I for sure have gotten used to it as it’s almost the end of this semester and I’ll continue to live here next semester but oh boy… it was an adjustment. You can’t see it in the pictures but we have a shower holder thingy that has all of our soaps and loofahs hanging in the shower. I can’t tell you the number of times, I’ll be showering and I move my arm to wash another part of my body and I accidentally elbow the shower holder and, thus making it fall. Not to mention that it is METAL and loud as fudge.
There are so many unspoken things that go into having a roommate. Of course, we talked about all the usuals at the beginning of the semester: guest policies, renting a minifridge, not having sex in each others’ bed (this is a joke btw). All of those are great and all but no one ever talks about *cues dramatic music*
Where the hell are you going to change? This is something that is inevitable and going to happen every day, probably more than once. I have never liked changing in post-shower bathrooms because it makes me feel sticky with the humidity from the hot water but I would do so if I knew I had a roommate to be courteous. HOWEVER, there is like no room to manuveur into shirts and pants in there without something getting wet and/or banging the doors when you move. There’s even less room when I am avoiding my feet touching the floor mat as it is dirty and wet. I am so squeezed up in there, it’s such a stress-inducing activity.
This is why I change in the room, regardless if she is in there or not. I still am mindful and make sure I have the towel wrapped to cover up my girl parts but I get the sense that she doesn’t like that. Since she changes in the bathroom, I feel like it’s a guide for me to change in the bathroom, but I physically can’t and that kind of sucks.
Unruly Bodies 
I feel you, also being on the larger side, changing in that bathroom is practically impossible. I would just sit on the toilet and get dressed, but it’s not comfortable. If possible I would recommend trying to get into the Sophomore dorms, at UMBC that’s Erikson and Harbor. The bathroom is a lot bigger. Tho when I lived in Harbor I put a window tension rode in the opening to the closet area, this created an area me and my roommate could change without having to use the bathroom. Also a robe helps covering up bits and drying off. Of course all these things might not work for you, but that’s what worked for me.
I can relate to the fact that changing right after a shower in a tight spaced bathroom sucks. I would always experience this when I stay at a relatives’ house for a few days. It took some time for me to maneuver and manage in the tight spaced bathroom, and I eventually got used to it. I always felt the need to change in my room because I also dislike the humidity after a hot shower. Luckily I had a room for myself and didn’t have to worry about making others uncomfortable, phew.
Hi!
I’m sorry you have to go through this, just reading you post made me uncomfortable. I, too, hate the humidity in the bathroom after showering. My solution for this was making my roommate cover her head while I quickly put on my undergarments (girly bits covered, she can deal with the rest). Of course, I can boss my roommate around more easily because she’s my sister. My heart goes out to you internet friend. I think if its not too revealing, continue doing what you are doing, if she’s in college, then she’s adult enough to deal with it.
I’m sorry that your experience has been this way. It definitely shows that UMBC does not take into consideration different body types. I am mid sized but I still bump into things as well. If you are coming back again maybe try to change to an apartment on campus if you can? they seem to be a little more spacious but I don’t know if that is within your budget as well. Hopefully though you get through it. I believe in you!
I’m so sorry you’ve gone through and continue to go through this experience. I sort of feel the same way, having to have changed in locker rooms surrounded by other people before gym class and at camps and such, and it never clicks for me as to how people are so comfortable doing it. Push through, you got this!
Sharing a living space can present challenges. My first instinct would be to tell you to talk to your roommate, communicate your feelings to them. I still suggest this but I absolutely recognize that may not be easy or even possible depending on the situation and dynamic. You should not have to live like that, making yourself smaller so as to ease her comfort. I lived in a UMBC dorm a few years ago and they are… not the best let’s say. It’s so awkward living with someone you don’t even know. Even if you try to get to know them but they don’t care to put in the effort, it doesn’t help things and that’s often where passive aggressive behavior starts. For me, the point of contention was the temperature. She liked the heat all the way up, and I like the cold. It’s honeslt yjust a sucky situation for most of us living with random roommates.
OMG I totally get you. The bathrooms are so small there is no space to do anything except move in and out. I can barely get dried properly after getting out of the shower so the bathroom floor is always soaking wet and I feel so bad. I also feel you with knocking everything over in the shower. If you don’t have an additional shower hanger, then there is no space for any products to stay in the shower. My freshman year I always just brought in the products I needed and then took them out after changing and drying because there was no room!
Yes! The bathrooms SUCK. The bathrooms are so small I can’t dry myself off so I have to walk in the room soaking wet feeling bad that I’m tracking water in. The whole changing arrangement topic went unsaid between my roommate and I. Our un-said solution is to not look and either wear our robes (amazing investment I recommend) or towels as we put on our undergarments and clothes. Definitely communicate with her about it and explain the predicament, I’m sure she’ll understand 🙂
First of all, I love that you brought up how the bathrooms at UMBC dorms are comically small. Anyone who’s tall, or isn’t skinny would have a really hard time cleaning themselves and changing. I also like that you brought up the unspoken aspect of living with a roommate. Sometimes “just communicate” is the default answer, but it can also make things worse. Even if you communicate something in the most sensitive way, a roommate could take it as a personal attack. Having beef with someone you live with sounds terrible. I hope you can find some sort of solution to this issue.
I fully understand your small shower issue and how it feels like some things aren’t built for some people. Case and point the stalls in PAHB swing inwards making me feel very squished and oafish whenever I’m in there. Granted I do not live in the PAHB bathroom stalls making the situation one I can avoid easily. If your roommate is uncomfortable then they should say something. It may be that they prefer to change in the humidity or something, rather than an action directed at you.