Roommate Poll…Please Comment!

So, my kids are grown and off to college and I’m alone with the two dogs and the cat. My house is fairly large (4 bedrooms) and I’ve actually been considering looking for a roommate. Good idea? Bad idea? I can’t decide.

My mom and dad live across the road from a very nice lady who breeds and sells Chihuahuas. She was living alone and decided to advertise for a roommate. She settled on a seemingly normal, nice lady and they began their adventure in roommateville. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, it became painfully obvious the roommate had mental issues and my parent’s neighbor was forced to ask her roommate to vacate the premises ASAP. She did so willingly and without incident until the homeowner returned home one night after work to a flame-engulfed house. Apparently the roommate took her anger out on the homeowner by setting her house on fire (fortunately, after opening the doors to let out her prized Chihuahuas). She was arrested and now sits in jail.

So you see my dilemma. In a perfect and normal world, a roommate could become a friend, someone to share expenses and chores and the answer to an empty house. But, in the real world a roommate can be a psycho arsonist who blasts music, does drugs, drinks heavily and parties all night and basically becomes a nightmare in my quiet little world. I’d love to get some feedback here. If anyone has opinions or stories (pros and cons) on the subject of roommates I would love to hear it. Comments would be greatly appreciated!

**reprinted from my other blog at http://mylovesleftovers.com/