Fed up with my brothers
 

I love my chapter to death. The brotherhood is great, the parties rock, and we excell in grades and intramurals. But there's one thing that really ticks me off, most of my brothers are REALLY gross around the house.

Here's some examples:
~If I don't do the dishes, no one else will.
~Many of the guys just drop off their coats/jackets/backpacks in the front room when they return home. They need to use their closets.
~The house is smelly. The bathrooms reek of ass after they take a dump. When I bend down to smell the carpet, I get a whiff of funky feet.
~We had new kitchen floor tile installed around a year ago. It was white, now it is a light tan color. They refuse to mop.
~They leave their dirty laundry on beds, couches, and floors.
~They leave food sitting out, instead of pitching them.
~I'm currently the treasurer, I ask them to give me checks for dues. Some hand in cash anyway. The problem is that some of them hand me musty old bills, instead of newer crisp bills.

How do I get my brothers to tidy up, without being a dick?

I think if I were you, I'd move out.

I honestly got nothing else for you. I learned at an early age that I was meant to live with very few people, for that very reason.

That's disgusting.

You may have to be a prick if they're acting like that.

I'm afraid your options are limited. If you could convince them of the necessity of hiring a cleaning service (which sounds like it would be hard to do) you could do that - but that won't solve the personal issues.

I moved in with my sorority sister (whom I loved) and it was a package deal - I got two other roomies. It quickly became obvious that I could either live with them and NOT USE THE KITCHEN because I was the only one who would clean it, or be an absolute harpy and try to cook. I chose to not use the kitchen - only the microwave - and got out of there as quickly as I could.

Sorry I couldn't come up with a better solution.

Are you living in the chapter house, or is this a "satellite" house in which several brothers live? How many brothers live in this house? My suggestions will vary based on the number in the house and the situation.

You can't change the behaviors of others. The only person whos behavior you can change is your own. Once I accepted this and incorporated it into my life, things got much much easier! Basically it means that you quit forcing people to do what YOU want them to do for whatever reasons YOU may have (even if they are good reasons they are still YOUR reasons).

Come on . . . grown folks should know better. When they don't, I don't have time to play mom. Do you have time to play Dad? I'm sure you don't by your post. And if you did have time, why would you want to? Couldn't you find something better to do with your time?

I agree with Senusret. Move out and be happy. You don't have time for all this. You are only stressing yourself out unnecessarily and causing your own misery. In the end, whatever you do will all be for nothing anyway. Bet you $19.20 that they will not change their disgusting piggy little ways.

In my experience, not living with certain people allows me to get along better with them. Might be the case with you and your brothers too.

some of these things are "normal." what else is a bathroom supposed to smell like after you take a dump?

and this is what happens when you live with a bunch of ppl in one house. i find it hard to bellieve its every brother in the house that does this - you cant be the only saint.

as treasurer, you can charge a maintenance fee and use that $$ for a Molly Maid. otherwise, tell those dudes to clean up here and there.

Have a Mom's Weekend and scare 'em into getting the place in shape before they arrive. ;)

"The bathrooms reek of ass after they take a dump."

This made me laugh! Most bathrooms do after taking a dump.:D:eek:

This would be my advice, especially if this is the fraternity house. Give them 2 weeks notice, and tell them to fork over the money for a regular cleaning service, or do it themselves.

And use something a bit more "industrial" than Molly Maids. They usually send two people; sounds like you need the four or five cleaners!

OMG! Ludacris totally wrote for people with these problems...it's called "Move".

I had to dorm with 3 little druggies in my junior year. I was the only one with sufficient cleaning supplies. They never mopped, they never cleaned (even the one who washed out her turtle's tank in the kitchen sink-and turtles are illegal in our dorm due to diseases! I was so glad when it died!) The floor always looked funky and my bathmate didn't know what Comet was so help her God! There is only one thing you CAN do...move ***** get out the way! Leave them their mess to themselves!

do you not have pledges???

this seems like an easy fix with a little pledge elbow grease

1). Get your own dishes, and don't use theirs. Keep yours in your room. Eventually they will wash theirs, when they run out.
2). They DO live there. I don't see a problem with book bags and coats and shoes in the main area...bedroom closets are for other clothes, not that stuff.
3, 4). If the entire house stinks, put cans of air freshener everywhere. Febreze?
5). Make a chore chart and fine brothers who don't do it, or put them on probation. (This would actually work for a lot of it, as long as your e-board agrees and backs you.)
6). Throw it away. They'll learn.
7). So? Again, just wait..they'll do it eventually. Don't do it for them.
8). Absolutely refuse cash. If they refuse to write a check, charge them late fees until they do it. And...I don't exactly see what the problem is between "new bills" and "old bills". That's a little anal retentive, just so you know.

That's all I got. Go forth!

If this is the chapter house, maybe yaw should get a House Mom and a House Manager. Other then that I don't think there is much you can do but move out.

I see you've met my co-workers....do we work together? :p;)

A TIP: Lit candles work wonders, but you don't want to burn the house down either. Act accordingly.

Unless you have a rotating "chores" roster and a way to enforce that the chores get done (fines, etc.), you don't have a lot of recourse. As a wise person said above, you can't change anyone else's behavior but you can change your own. If you are living in a place that is not clean to your standard of satisfaction, then I would move out. Easy come, easy go.

PS Can you install a shoe rack or something in the front (cubbies?) so that people have somewhere to chuck their stuff? Maybe they are only in and out for 30 minutes or something, so they don't want to put their junk away in their bedroom closet. Look into storage options / organizing options for the front room area.

Let us know what you decide to do. :)

problem solved.

You live in a fraternity house.

Either get a maid or accept that this is the way its suppose to be.

Why don't you have a maid anyways?

In this day and age, I don't think electric candles will take care of this certain problem...
:p

If it's a house that only holds like 12 people (which some fraternity houses are) there is no place to put a maid.

OP - are you sure you're a guy? I mean, complaining about musty bills instead of crisp bills is WAY beyond anal retentive. I don't think you are meant to live w/ a house full of dudes.

Oh, and don't throw away people's clothes or other possessions. That's rude even if they are slobs.

I'll be the first to say a typical GC response


Make sure you tell nationals in case of any bodily harm.

We have a pretty small house, it houses 13 brothers, and we do not have a den mom. I know that we are guys, and we tend to be little more sloppy than girls, but we should not act like we were raised by wolves.

I bought coat trees for them to hang up their stuff, but they still drop their stuff any and everywhere. I made schedules for dishwashing and taking out the trash, but they ignore them. And I tried making suggestions like asking the brothers to change their diet to reduce malodorous stools, they laughed in my face. I tell them to avoid walking around the house barefoot, so the carpet will smell like carpet and not raw feet, it falls on deaf ears.

My efforts on trying to get these guys under control are useless. I think I will be moving out at the end of the semester. That sucks though, because I really like my brothers.

Oh, come on.

DITY?

did it ever occur to you that they may be acting like this just to spite you?

I have a reason for this. Dirty old bills alone are really gross, but I think they are harmless. However, when I eat out, the last thing I touch is money. I think it is unsanitary to handle old musty bills, right before I eat. I could wash my hands twice, once before I get in line and once I get my food, but I find that sort of inconvenient.

There's this great thing I have, it's called a debit card. You should look into that.

OK, I retract my earlier statement.

HHITY?

http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2...age578609x.jpg

There is no way this is true. No way.

Besides...I would think walking around in shoes would dirty up the house more than walking around barefoot? You really asked them to change their diets?

Hire a maid or move out. Your brothers will still be your brothers. You just won't have to live in their filth.

Your grades and personal happiness can be affected by your living situation. Find a peaceful solution and don't be a martyr.

Really?! They laughed?!! In your face?!!!

And you want a carpet smell?

I find it hysterical.

I would agree with others that there's no way you're a guy, but your clone works down the hall from me. He's a super nice guy, but yeah, we laugh at him too.

OK, I have to admit, I LOLed when I read this.

Yeah, I just had the exact same reaction, especially to that one particular line.


ETA: And LOLOLOLOL at HHITY?

This reminds me of an episode of "Clean House" when Nicey taught a fraternity (AEII I think) how to keep thier house clean. Maybe contact the show and see if they would work with you!:D

As for the musty money thing... buy lots of Purell I guess.

You think your stool don't stink?

And I agree, there's no way this is real.

I would tell you to move out.

If you don't want to or can't any time soon...

-Have your own set of dishes.
-When you're in the front room, find one place, like behind a sofa out of sight and dump all of their bags there. It'll take about two seconds and they'll get the message. If they get angry, just tell them you're going to do that every time you're in the front room...or they can keep their things in their room.
-The bathroom stinks? Well...that happens when people use it. If it stinks afterwards, buy one of those plug in air fresheners. It won't make it sanitary, but it'll save you from cleaning it, at least. It will smell good enough to be usable.
-Buy a steam cleaner for the carpet if it REALLY bothers you. They probably aren't going to keep their shoes on all of the time, nor wash their feet more often and I'll bet you $100 they won't take it upon themselves to clean the carpet themselves. Use the chapter funds to buy a steam cleaner and clean it once every two weeks. It actually doesn't take too long to do if you can keep them off of it for a little while.
-You can mop. They won't. Or you can just be glad it isn't sticky.
-Throw it all in a pile, mixed together like with the back packs. Having to go through each others' dirty clothes a few times, they'll learn.
-Just throw it away. Or leave it and don't use the kitchen at all for a few days. Let them deal with the flies.
-Tell them you will not take anything but checks and they will be charged a late fee if they don't bring you one on time.

But really I just think you should move out.

They aren't going to help out, obviously. You can take it upon yourself or move out and I'd move out.

The third option is to hire once a week maids and charge the chapter for it, but I don't know if that's possible for you and your chapter.

Holy Mother of God...

It's called OUST, Mr. Anal-Retentive. Works wonders. :rolleyes:

That's considered as hazing.

You're right, shoes are dirtier, but smell less. Dirt is the lesser of two evils. My stomach turns when I smell bodies.

Yes, it smells so fresh so clean.

Not really. I eliminate offensive foods such as broccoli, eggs, beef, and beens from my diet. It may smell a little when I eject the contents from my colon, but once it settles in the toilet water, there is little or no smell. This is NOT the case with my brothers, sometimes the odor lasts up to 20 minutes. Plus they leave brown shit smears at the bottom of the bowl, they don't have the courtesy to do the - courtesy flush.

Step 1: Make a sign that says…”If you leave your dishes in the sink today they’ll be in the trashcan tomorrow.”

Step 2: Hang Sign Up In Kitchen

Step 3: Enforce the Sign's Policy

thats awful. i could never live in someone else's filth. i know im not the tidiest person in the world but dang. Is it mandatory that you live there? Because if it isnt then I would just move out. Thats the only thing i can think of because they obviously dont care about living in filth and I can't imagine what you could do to MAKE them clean up after themselves