Rules for survival if you're the lone gal in the house

Somewhere between the empty beer cans, plastic bottles full of snuff and spit, and the beard trimmings on the bathroom sink, a female living with all male roommates often has to work hard to maintain her sanity.

While not all men chew snuff and leave beer cans and beard trimmings spread about the house, I can say from personal experience that I have never had these same problems when living with women. So, I'm dealing with it, and probably a decent number of other women in Athens find themselves dealing with many of the same problems.

There have to be rules in a house full of boys and one girl, and when those rules are ignored, there's tricks to surviving life as the lone female that I've developed over the last three months. They might come in handy for other women in my situation. In no way am I saying that as a female I should have to do these things, but in this situation, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Clorox wipes Clorox wipes Clorox wipes.
They are a fast and easy way to clean up almost anything. No matter what you say, your male roommates may still refuse to wipe up their stubble from the countertop. That's where the wipes come in. You don't have to touch their facial hair at all, and you can throw the wipe in the trash without another thought. Clorox wipes are also good for cleaning up the mess on the stove when your roommates come in drunk one night and decide to cook an omelet but forget the cleaning up part. Just a couple scrubs with the wipe and the egg residue is wiped clean from the stove. (Just about any brand will do, though these things tend to be known generically as "Clorox wipes.")

Keep the daily shower cleaner next to the tub.
While some men may be the cleaning type, some roommates are not. If they don't care about whether or not the dirt and grime builds up around the shower and curtain, there are products out there to help. To keep the shower clean, all you have to do is spray a few squirts of the cleaner when you get out of the shower, and the product does all the work. Since the guys usually forget to spray it, as long as I remember to do it once a day, I don't have to worry about cleaning the shower every week.

Wear flip-flops around the house.
It's hard to tell what you'll find on the floor around your own home when you live with all men. From Kool-Aid spills to various forms of bodily discharge, the floors can get sticky. To avoid hourly floor mopping, just keep some flip-flops or slippers around the house. This will prevent the terrible moment when you realize there may be some bodily fluids on your toes.

Put a laundry basket next to the shower.
Inevitably, your male roommates will take off their clothes in the bathroom before they get in the shower. Also inevitably, they will leave their clothes in the bathroom. If you get them in the habit early of throwing their clothes in the laundry basket directly next to the shower, you can save hours of picking up dirty basketball shorts, cut-off shirts and other filthy rags. This isn't to say that you have to wash them, as they can do their own laundry, but simply keeping the dirty clothes in one place makes everything easier. (While we're on the topic of the shower, it doesn't hurt to urge your roomies to dry off in the shower, rather than tracking water all over the bathroom.)

Cover the couches in blankets.
It is much easier to throw a blanket in the washer than to try and scrub stains out of couches. Whether the stains come from a Kool-Aid spill, vomit or other unpleasant liquids, a blanket is always a better sacrifice than a couch. It saves hours of vacuuming and scrubbing and can save an entire couch. Shaking crumbs from a blanket is much easier than vacuuming in between couch cushion.

Communicate often.
This may seem obvious with any roommate, but when you're the minority gender in a household, this communication is essential. Many guys have never lived with a girl other than a sister and a mother, and those relationships are quite different than living with a female friend. They won't know or care about your feelings about facial hair on the sink or your hatred for falling into a toilet in the middle of the night unless you tell them early and often.

Get a pet.
Definitely not an obvious tip, but a pet will be on your side of those fights between you and your male roommates. If you get a dog, you can take it for a walk to get out of the house when the boys have their dates sitting on the couch or when the mess gets to be too much. The guys will also appreciate the pet, too, because when they bring a date over. they can show the pet off and pretend like it's theirs.

Recycle the beer cans.
In all of your disgust the morning after your roommates' night of heavy drinking in the living room, you can find a light at the end of the tunnel. Without fail, every can of beer they drank will be scattered across living room and kitchen. This makes it very, very easy to collect every one of them into a recycling bin and set it by the curb. While you may be cleaning up after them, at least it's for the common good.