"Room Divider and Ear Plugs ASAP" — Man Shares Difficulty in Sharing Room With Flatmate

Finding a decent place to rent in a major metropolitan city that's densely populated, like London, is no easy task. This is probably why TikToker @cs1sznn, a self-proclaimed "broke uni student" is sharing a room with a flatmate.

While many of his videos show that they keep their living space clean and tidy, he says there are pitfalls to sharing a room with someone folks usually don't think about.

One of which he delineated in a viral TikTok that involves cracking fingers.

"POV: this is one of the big problems that you are facing while having a shared room in your London accommodation," a text overlay in the video reads.

The TikToker begins their video by moving their camera around the room while opining on the challenges of sharing a living space with another roommate.

"Another problem of sharing a room with a roommate is that you can never ever get some sleep," they say as they pan their camera across the dual bed set up.

They continue to talk about their difficulties.

"Like it was this one night, it's at 3 a.m. I was trying to get some sleep. I thought I was hearing some clicking sound. And I [asked] is that sound? And he was trying to crack his fingers or click his fingers in his bones," he said.

The personal tic seemed enough to pester him, and he noticed. And from the way he relays the story, it appears that it happened way too often for him not to notice. "Like, it was every five minutes that it happened. It was like a cycle, and yeah that triggered me so hard that night," he stated.

As a result of the incessant "clicking" noises throughout the night, the TikToker stated that he wasn't able to get any sleep while sharing a room with someone.

"And yeah I never really got any sleep. Which he went to bed at 5 a.m and woke up at 8 or 7. So yeah that was a crazy night," he said, mourning his lost sleep.

There have been instances of folks who've become roommates with one another and the situation ultimately turned ugly. This Refinery 29 post by someone who chronicled their experiences in living with a boyfriend, along with "SpareRoom strangers" and someone they ultimately called "wives."

The latter group, the piece states, were some of the most significant relationships they ever formed in their life. "Buttons could be pushed and eyebrows could be raised over, say, hair-clogged shower drains or a tendency to invite sleazy boyfriends back at 3 a.m., but we remain friends, bridesmaids, sisters, wives."

However, the author of the article did reference folks who didn't have such profound or warm feelings towards their former flatmates. Such as the case of two women, who, for the purposes of the write-up, they referred to as Chloe and Gemma.

It didn't take long for the two former friends to get into arguments over "household responsibilities and the division of bills." Furthermore, Chloe stated that her boyfriend who lived close by "also created tension."

It also didn't help that they had different personalities and ways they liked to spend their time. Gemma "was single and a homebody who preferred quiet nights in."

Consequently, "Both women struggled to carve out space for themselves."

Soon, ideas that they'd be throwing dinner parties and engaging in meaningful "late-night chats over a bottle of red" dissipated. Their relationship became marked by "domestic irritations, perceived slights, and the sense of walking on eggshells."

After a year of living with each other, Chloe said that she moved in with her boyfriend, which only put a larger strain on her relationship with Gemma. After her move, Chloe says that she considers Gemma a friend, however, she admits that they don't see each other as much anymore.

Following this experience, Chloe says that she'll probably stay away from ever living with another "close friend again."

"It's never worked out for me. Friendships need to be protected and cherished and throwing household admin and bills into the mix is a surefire way to lose that."

There was another woman cited in the piece, who was referred to as Leah, who said that they had three bad encounters with roommates, which included someone while she was at University who had to have the police called on him.

A second friend she moved in with, she says, also soured their relationship after just five months. The woman she shared the flat with was never there.

To top it all off, her roommate's boyfriend would often help himself with her food in the house, and she would pay her rent late. Although they paid the landlord separately and their rent included utilities, she ended up catching flak from the building manager for her roommate's tardiness in paying rent.

But there was a happy roommate ending for Leah — she remained friends with another roommate long after they secured separate living situations. Leah even went on to state that she was a bridesmaid at this woman's wedding.