THAT's not a good sign...

My new roommate slept outside last night because he couldn't stand the sound of my breathing.

I got all moved into my room yesterday. Things went smoothly enough, until around 1:00, when Michael, my new roommate, decided it was time to sleep. So we turned out all the lights, I put on my headphones, he laid down, and I continued to use my computer.

I was trying to be very quiet, but as I was sick, I couldn't help the occasional cough or sniffle. After a few minutes, I heard Michael mumble something. I took off my headphones and asked him what it was.

"Can you go blow your nose, or something?" he asked.

"Um... yeah. But, I mean, it's just gonna come back. I mean, I'm sick. Sorry," I responded. I went off to blow my nose, to little effect due to my congestion. I came back and continued whatever it was I had been doing.

A few minutes later, he mumbles something again. I take off the headphones again, and ask him what he wants.

"Can you take that outside and work on it? There's an Ethernet jack near the table, and there's no one else out there."

Well, I thought I was being pretty quiet, and my roommate from last year and I routinely used the computer while the other was sleeping. "Um, is it really bothering you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm trying to sleep. I'm hardly ever in here except to sleep, but when I'm in here, I need to sleep," he responded.

So, I had to make a choice. Do I try to be as accommodating as possible, and let myself be run out of my new room the first night there? Or do I decide to be rude and inconsiderate, and stay there regardless?

I decided to compromise.

"I'll be done in a few minutes," I said. It was getting late, after all. So I took about five minutes to wrap things up, and shut down the computer. Then I laid down and tried to get to sleep.

I could hear that Michael was restless on his side of the room. I figured it might be because of my breathing. It was a little louder than normal, since I was sick and a bit congested. Still, it wasn't whistling, or bubbling, or anything like that.

But within a few minutes, with an exasperated sigh, he sat bolt upright, grabbed his pillow, and stalked out of the room. A few seconds later, he returned, and dragged his entire futon set out of the room. I tried to catch his attention to confirm what was wrong. "Dude?" I asked.
I only received a mostly incomprehensible mumble in return. It sounded something like "I'm just gonna go out here..." and then he left.

I'm not really sure what to make of this, to be honest. Is he an incredibly light sleeper? Has he never had a roommate before? Or his he just being spiteful because he had to give up the single room he was never supposed to have?

And what should I do? I don't think it's all that unreasonable to quietly use my computer while he's sleeping, and I certainly can't do anything about my BREATHING. And what's going to happen when he finds out I SNORE? I mean, I've had to put up with sleeping in the same room with snoring people before. It's just a fact of life. But I get the feeling that he's not going to react very well to it.

I talked to some of the other people in my unit about it. I asked whether he had said anything about me moving in, and they responded "Just a general sentiment of... regretting it."
I told them about the specific situation of what happened, and asked what they thought. I also brought up the problem of my snoring.

They seemed to think it would be best if I could change how I breathed, and to try not to snore. I pointed out that I can't control how I breathe, or whether or not I snore, since I'm ASLEEP. They responded that you can never be sure until you try, and "helpfully" pointed out that snoring is sometimes health related, and that maybe I should get out and be active more.
Other than that, they suggested that if my snoring is keeping him up one night, and he wakes me up about it, I should drag my futon outside and sleep in the common are to "meet him halfway" about it.

"Umm... you call that meeting him halfway?" I asked.

"Well, that's true. I guess you'd be doing all the work. But it was his room first."

"Yes, but he was never supposed to have a single room. He signed up for a double just like the rest of us, and if he had a single room for a couple weeks, then that was just his good luck."

"Well, you moving in here is a big adjustment for all of us."


What have I done? Have I moved from a unit of people basically indifferent to me, into a unit that actively wants me gone?