Creepy 33-year-old copies everything his 23-year-old female roommate does: 'He mimics my produce shopping. He’s even copying my clothes and shoes.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Oct 17, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

Single White Female has met her match.

Most of us move on from the "copying" phase of development by the time we enter kindergarten. It can be frustrating being a 6-year-old whose 4-year-old sister won't stop doing exactly what you do because she wants to be you so badly. You beg your mom to make her stop copying you, but it doesn't help. She still claps when you clap, puts a bubble in her mouth when you put a bubble in your mouth, and generally annoys you until you can't take it anymore. 

Once you grow up, you notice more subtle forms of copying that happen out of habit. One of my best friends adopted "Hey princess!" as a greeting, and now I literally can't stop saying it. I don't know if I adopted the phrase because I think it's funny, I spend so much time with her, so I hear it all the time, or I'm prone to picking up catchphrases, but whatever the case may be, she has no problem with me copying her, as I have no problem with her copying me and my silly slang. It's not like I'm acting like I coined the phrase first!

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  • Copying can be strange when you have no real friendship or intimacy with the person doing the copying. The dude in this story is functionally a stranger to his much younger roommate, and he can't stop doing everything exactly the way she does. She has no idea how to confront him about this, because she doesn't want him to think she's weird for noticing the copying.

  • Roommate copies EVERYTHING I buy/do and it’s getting weird?

    I (23F) have a (33M) roommate who literally copies everything I do and buy. We don't even talk to each other, we're not friends. In fact, the first time I met him, the homeowner introduced us and he just looked at me, didn't say hi, and walked away. The only time he's even remotely nice to me is when his girlfriend is over.
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • It started with groceries, I'd buy coconut water, he'd buy coconut water. I started drinking Olipop, suddenly there's Olipop in the fridge.
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • A person holding up a can of Classic Root Beer Olipop at a grocery store
    via minimdesignco

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • He even mimics my produce shopping. I'll bring home certain veggies, and the next trip he's bought the exact same ones but he never actually eats them. A couple of weeks later I'll see his untouched veggies sitting in the trash. I honestly don't get it.
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • It's not just food. I bought new pots and pans for myself and left the old ones for him to use. Instead of using the ones I left, he went out and bought the same pots and pans I bought... and then never even uses them.
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • It's even crossed over into lifestyle stuff. I bought plants, suddenly he has plants. I get a new soap dish, he gets the same soap dish. I start buying organic groceries, he does too. Now he's even copying my clothes and shoes.
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • A woman sitting on a stool with her hand on her chin
    via Valeriia Miller (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • It's honestly creepy at this point. Like I'm a 23-year-old woman and this is a 33-year-old man. It's not just "being inspired," it's copy-paste behavior. I feel like I'm living with a doppelgänger who's cosplaying as me. I feel like I'm being watched. I don't know what kind of behavior this is, it is giving obsessed or maybe petty?
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • Has anyone dealt with a roommate like this? How do you set boundaries without making it awkward or escalating things?
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • BikerSlutsFromHell Start wearing a red clown nose around the house and see if he does that
    via u/BikerSl*tsFromH*ll
  • floofhedgehog OP This made me LOL
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • delistraws giving him the benefit of the doubt here (and being slightly generous): maybe he wants to impress his girlfriend and doesn't know how to live / act like a normal person lol. a lot of men who live alone don't think to buy healthy food, cute decor, plants, new pots and pans (my dad literally would use pots and pans without handles that were 10-20 years old). he might've been like
    via u/delistraws
  • oh shit, I should probably buy new kitchenware so my gf doesn't think i'm ok with using old ratty stuff. or same with the plants/decor, like seeing how a younger girl lives/acts / the stuff she buys and thinking that'll impress his girlfriend or that his gf might care about those kinds of things and it just had never occurred to him before.
    via u/delistraws
  • another, less generous perspective: he might have a weird thing for you and might be trying to impress YOU. or get you to initiate conversation with him. like even if it's not a romantic thing, maybe he just is shy and wants you to be like "oh hey we have the same ___!" to form a friendship or something. weird/uncomfortable regardless, but at least it's kinda harmless if it's not a romantic interest.
    via u/delistraws
  • either way, I'd be weirded out too. if you're not threatened by him at all and think he's a nice / normal guy otherwise, I wouldn't stress too much about it. if he does other stuff that rubs you the wrong way, I'd honestly start checking your room for cameras or something. idk your bathroom situation but, how would he know what soap dish you bought if you have separate bathrooms ? idk. as a woman in my 20's as well, I always err on the side of caution since I'm pretty generally terrified of men
    via u/delistraws
  • floofhedgehog OP I appreciate this fair take you've given me. Hmm, maybe he is trying to impress his gf (given that his gf is actually close to my age, she's 25). I'm not sure about the "trying to impress me" part because he's been standoffish towards me since | moved in here. Tried to talk to him before and tried to be friends with him but he's given me the hint that he does not want to talk more. Also, we
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • have separate bathrooms (2 baths in the house) and so that's why I'm weirded out about the bathroom situation because I don't even share the bathroom I'm using with him as he's using the other one. I will probably get my doorknob changed.
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • delistraws yeah, the bathroom/soap dish thing is the weirdest to me. if you're comfortable with it, maybe set up an indoor ring camera in your room just to make sure he's not going through your stuff while you're not home. I doubt it is a coincidence that he happened to buy the same exact soap dish especially since this is not a one off thing. so he either saw it before you put it in the bathroom (like if you left it on the counter or something before putting it in there) or he's going in your b
    via u/delistraws
  • again, although I wanna give him the benefit of the doubt for some of the stuff, I'd definitely err on the side of caution here. I'm sure some of it is innocent and harmless (him getting stuff that his 25 y/o gf might like because his 23 y/o roommate likes it) but it seems a bit overboard to be that innocent. honestly, your best/safest bet might be to mention it while his gf is there, esp since you said he's nice to you when she's there. just a random "hey, I noticed we have the same _! did you
    via u/delistraws
  • it can come up naturally and he might even be like "oh yeah I saw you had it and loved it!" but it's also in front of his gf so there's a little bit of a safety net. if you're comfortable mentioning it to him that is.
    via u/delistraws
  • joelene1892 This reminds me of a Robert munsch children's book where a kid's enitre class (including teachers) starts copying her hair everyday until she eventually gets super angry and tells them all she's shaving her head for tomorrow...... And everyone except her comes in bald.
    via u/joelene1892
  • Who_Your_Mommy If I were you(I'm petty as all hell)I'd start doing/bringing home weird stuff just to see if he does it too. Y'know...get a little rubber duck for the shower. Get some jicama or similarly unusual produce that can be had to even identify. Pull out your platforms. Make a game of it and see how far he'll take it. *Assuming he doesn't make you feel physically unsafe or anything, ofc.
    via u/Who_Your_Mommy
  • SnooGoats7454 Have you tried maybe asking him? "Hey we already had a full set of pots and pans, why did you go out and buy new ones? Hey we already had a soap dish, why did you go out and buy a new one?"
    via u/SnooGoats7454
  • floofhedgehog OP No not really, because then I'd look like I'm the one who watches every move he makes and he might switch it up like I'm the crazy creep here
    via u/floofhedgehog
  • A man sitting at a desk in front of a laptop computer
    via Natalia Blauth (Unsplash+)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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groceries bad roommate copycat roommate creepy copy bad roommates reddit story produce psycho roommate grocery copying clothes reddit thread Reddit roommates
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