I have no idea what my roommate is, or what triggered or initiated her ongoing depression for the past 5-6 years. No, it's not an easy thing to identify or quickly label, but there are clues in her behavior for me, since I became her roommate 5 months ago, that lead me to believe she shuts down when life doesn't go her way. And, I am the opposite. When life doesn't go my way, I go into overdrive to try to fix my life.

Tonight I went to look at the sublease furnished apartment and was thoroughly disappointed. First, the entire apt. building reeked...just reeked of cigarette smoke. I have asthma so that was an immediate "nope" for me. But also, the online reviews of the apt mgmt company were TERRIBLE and when I met two of the leasing agents, and saw the interior of the apt. bldg, I suddenly believed the reviews. Slum lords came to mind. No lights in the hallways, broken thermostats, broken washer/dryer units. The student's 1 bedroom was fine but it reeked of cigarette smoke from the the surrounding units of smokers and the hallway.

I felt bad for the student. The final straw was the way the two leasing agents handled the sublease contract (had I gone through with it). They wanted me to pay $250 sub-lease fee (which is actually the student's responsibility), plus his deposit, THEN I learned that the reason the apt was $100 cheaper was because the student was desperate to get someone to take over his lease and was willing to pay the extra $100 himself every month until his lease runs out, while the person who takes over his lease pays the remainder of rent. Um, no thanks. How would I get that in writing if it wasn't part of the original lease. So many red flags with this I had to walk away from it.