I am in my 2nd year of college living in a dorm with my roommate Ashley. I don't know if you've ever lived in a dorm, but you don't have a hell of a lot of privacy. You don't ever get time to masturbate so you basically memorize your roommate's class schedule and go for it when you can. A while ago I was having a little fun with myself and in walks Ashley coming home from a cancelled Anatomy class. Irony! She walked out immediately and I made sure I wasn't around later when she came home. Since then we've seen each other a bunch of times but neither of us have brought it up and it's really awkward. Is there a way to bring this up to her so we can just move on? We're friends and it's really strange to have this weirdness between us.
- JG, Austin, TX
This is a pretty common occurrence. Combining undergrad and grad school, I've walked in on 5 roommates masturbating, including a really gutsy guy who was using my computer and my lubricant. That's 5 out of the 7 roommates I had. But they never got me, thankyouverymuch.
Really, this isn't that big of a deal. If you're going to continue to act embarrassed about doing something that everyone, including your roommate, does, that's what's going to make the situation weird. If you play it cool, act like it's not something you're ashamed of, but rather something you're completely over, then she'll follow suit.
If that doesn't work, reclaim power over the situation by making light of it. Something like, "Hey, if anatomy gets cancelled again, don't try to surprise me with your pop quiz again," shows that you're ok with the situation enough to acknowledge it with a laugh.
Up: Masturbation
This article was published on Saturday 16 October, 2010.
