20-year-old woman has last laugh after her roommates mocked for asking to keep the front door locked

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 1, 2026 2:00 PM EDT

Who knew that locking the front door would be such a point of contention among roommates? 

This 20-year-old college student recently moved in with two friends from school, who were a few years older than her. As she acknowledges, it was her first apartment where she wasn't living with her parents, so she was expecting a challenging adjustment. Many of us know what this change is like. You're paying your own rent, cooking your own meals, and cleaning your own dishes. 

The student likely assumed that she would be the more immature person among her roommates, given the fact that she was younger than them and new at this whole "adulting" thing. However, what she did not anticipate was that she would end up displaying far more maturity simply by requesting that the other tenants lock the front door when they leave the apartment. They ended up having numerous arguments over such a silly request, and well, it backfired big time for the other roommates.

Advertisement
  • Two female roommates argue in the kitchen.
    via Microsoft Copilot

    Two female roommates argue in the kitchen.

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

  • My ex-roomates mocked me for wanting to lock the door, so I stole a potato peeler from their unlocked apartment.

    In the summer of 2020, I (then 20F) moved into an apartment with Joel (24M) and Sadie (23F), who were best friends with each other and acquaintances of mine from school.
    via red_ditz_
  • It was my first time living outside of my parents' house. The apartment was in a really sketchy area of town.
    via red_ditz_
  • The cops were there multiple times a week, and we had items stolen from our vehicles.
    via red_ditz_
  • This was the best apartment we could afford since we all paid equal rent. Joel was a medical student from a wealthy family, but Sadie and I were both earning well below the poverty line.
    via red_ditz_
  • A constant fight between my roommates and I was over locking the door. They would leave the apartment completely unlocked whenever they left.
    via red_ditz_
  • I repeatedly asked them to please keep the door locked when nobody was home since my laptop and other valuables were in the apartment.
    via red_ditz_
  • I needed my laptop for work but could NOT afford to replace it if it was stolen.
    via red_ditz_
  • Every time I asked this, they totally brushed me off and implied that I was being stupid or overly anxious for wanting to lock the door.
    via red_ditz_
  • I was teased and ridiculed for this request on multiple occasions, and they never respected my wishes.
    via red_ditz_

  • Everyone in this apartment was aware that they were not exactly living in the safest of neighborhoods. Still, this is what they could currently afford given their respective situations. And yet, despite all the alerts these roommates would get in the local news about break-ins and robberies in the area, they still refused to honor the author's wishes and make sure the door was locked. It was only a matter of time before they would come home one day to find all their valuables missing.

    In this instance, something very much was missing from the now ex-roommate's kitchen: a precious potato peeler. Sure, this wasn't the most valuable item in the apartment, but it was a nice, petty way that the author could get back at the so-called “mature” classmates who made her living environment unsafe.

  • They said that if anything got stolen, we could "just replace it." I came home on many occasions to an empty apartment with the door unlocked.
    via red_ditz_
  • They were okay roommates other than that, but this was a recurring point of tension. After a few months of living with them, I moved into a different apartment in the same complex with my friend, Maggie (20F).
    via red_ditz_
  • Maggie and I were very much on the same page about keeping the door locked. We remained relatively cordial with Joel and Sadie and occasionally said hi in the parking lot, but we didn't hang out with them since they weren't taking C seriously at all.
    via red_ditz_
  • One evening, I was cooking dinner alone in my apartment, and to my dismay, our potato peeler was nowhere to be found.
    via red_ditz_
  • I scoured the whole kitchen and couldn't find it, and unfortunately, the peeler was essential to the meal I was making.
    via red_ditz_
  • I decided to go see if Joel and Sadie were home and willing to loan me their potato peeler.
    via red_ditz_
  • I walked over to their building (our keys got us into any building in the complex), went up to their apartment, and knocked on the door.
    via red_ditz_
  • No answer. Then, something snapped in me. Though I knew I shouldn't, I tried the door, and of course, it was unlocked.
    via red_ditz_
  • I went into their dark, empty apartment, grabbed their potato peeler out of their kitchen drawer, took it back to my own apartment, and never said anything to them about it.
    via red_ditz_
  • 6 years later, I still have that potato peeler. Small revenge, but extremely satisfying.
    via red_ditz_
  • A person holds their keys to the front door of their apartment.
    via Jakub Żerdzicki

    A person holds their keys to the front door of their apartment.

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

  • likeablyweird Joel, the med student, wasn't serious about the Plague. Hmmmm
    via red_ditz_
  • red_ditz_ Original Poster's Reply For real! It was so mind boggling to me.
    via red_ditz_
  • crazyshdes62 Did they ever find out that their potato peeler was stolen?
    via red_ditz_
  • red_ditz_ Original Poster's Reply Not that I know of! We kept in touch a little bit after I moved out, but certainly not to the extent where they would have told me about something like a missing potato peeler lol
    via red_ditz_
  • Salt-Calligrapher526 So it was you, the thief you kept them warning about
    via red_ditz_
  • red_ditz_ Original Poster's Reply You become the thing you fear the most lol
    via red_ditz_
  • masonwiz73 Good story then! I also applaud your prose
    via red_ditz_
  • red_ditz_ Original Poster's Reply Thank you!! I love writing, and I've been trying to write down more of my personal stories lately to get back into writing prose :)
    via red_ditz_
  • masonwiz73 I'm being serious when I ask this; is this Al?
    via red_ditz_
  • red_ditz_ Original Poster's Reply Nope!
    via red_ditz_

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

twenties adulting bad roommates theft entitled people apartment
Scroll Down For The Next Article