<p>I’d feel more sorry for your future roommate… god that kid is gonna kill himself. </p>
<p>Seeing how you have nothing to offer the campus, not only would i not want you to be in my dorm, I wouldn’t want you representing my school.</p>
<p>If the OP had said this:</p>
<p>I have medical issues that affect where and how I can live…what is the best way to approach my college about this…as I don’t think i can live in the dorm…and i wouldn’t make a great roommate or hallmate because of my illness and other factors anyway</p>
<p>I think people would be more willing to give concrete advice then</p>
<p>^^ Agreed with all of the posters above.</p>
<p>Chill. Out. Most univeristies are very, very accomodating because it’s such a privilege for both of you to be together, especially in competitive schools. I’ve had to fight for my rights to have any room on campus and for my university to figure out how they’ll have to set up my room specifically for my needs- not for me to stick to rooms that are already set up. That’s discriminating and I pointed that out and they complied.</p>
<p>As for dogs, while I can’t relate but my dog can relate to you! She’s very sensitive and gets all upset when I’ve been near a dog recently- only because she can smell it off my pants. I’ve found that after several washes, the lingering “dog” smell comes right off so for your future roommate, it’ll most likely take about 2-3 weeks before it will be completely tolerable to live with him. Especially that the vast majority of dorms don’t allow pets anyway.</p>
<p>I doubt that you have OCD because you’re letting it take over your life. People who DO have OCD really seek out to find help because their OCD is literally taking over in a way they cannot function in the society. They lose friends. They lose their jobs. Etc.</p>
<p>To get over the germphobia, you need to STOP thinking about everything that you do. Stop and smell the flowers. But there are people out there too who hate using public bathrooms. My brother’s one of them- he doesn’t go to bathroom anywhere unless it’s at home. But my parents and I know that he’ll get over his fears when he goes to college in the fall. </p>
<p>I think that at this moment, you’re very worried and nervous about the whole college thing that you’re just using this rant to cover up your anxiety about leaving home and going off to somewhere new in the fall. It’s perfectly normal! Try to relax and enjoy the moment. Don’t worry about the future until you get your housing application in June/July.</p>
<p>Actually getting a cold every now and then is a GOOD thing. Surprisingly(??) it can actually help reduce the chance of certain cancers!</p>
<p>I know SEMO requires students to live on campus not one, but TWO years. That is unless you meet this requirement, this requirement, or that requirement ;)</p>
<p>Call the waaaaambulance. Life’s unfair, everyone should just cater to you, because you deserve it.</p>
<p>/wrist/</p>
<p>And god forbid those INHUMANE conditions of having to be one of several people who uses a toilet or shower. GOD THATS HORRIBLE.</p>
<p>Somebody didn’t make you go outside often enough as a child.</p>
<p>Whatever, I’ve gotten less sick since moving to a dorm.</p>
<p>Obviously we don’t know all the original poster’s details nor are we in a position to make detailed assessments of any medical conditions however, from the original post it is quite clear that at least some of the ‘medical limitations’ mentioned are psychosomatic as much of the list of complaints and reasons for not wanting to live in a dorm have little to no basis in scientific fact (obsession with STDs living in the bathroom, obsession with germs everywhere, the idea that somehow dorms are horrid dirty festering dungeons but a private home is ‘clean’, this odd idea that contact with someone in a dorm is somehow different than contact with someone on the street, in an office, classroom or private apartment building). </p>
<p>I don’t doubt one bit that you do have some medical conditions and allergies that must be considered and, where possible, reasonable accommodation’s made; however, as you’re now preparing to leave the bubble of home and enter the ‘real world’ in all seriousness you do need to have a reality check and take whatever measures necessary to ensure that you’ll be able to function. Some very good points were also made regarding the workplace… will you not use the bathroom the entire time you’re at work? </p>
<p>Perhaps you could speak to your physician and a councilor to establish what you are actually allergic to and what’s just ‘in your head’ and then working on getting over the irrational parts of your fears. From what you described it sounds like having a dog in your dormroom might be a big problem, but dogs aren’t allowed in the dorms anyway and you’re just as likely to come into close contact with someone (who’s recently been near a dog) in the dorm as you are in a dining hall, classroom, at work or just out on the street. These other fears about STDs and the like are totally irrational and totally in your head. The average dorm bathroom gets hosed down with disinfectant at least once a day and I’d be willing to bet is far far cleaner in terms of ‘germs’ than the average bathroom in a private home.</p>
<p>Anyway, I would strongly encourage you to get some help on this issue. In all likelihood your college will give into your demands if for no other reason than to get you off their back; however, in the end I really think you’ll lose out if you try and live college in a bubble, on your own, away from the dorms your first year.</p>
<p>FIND - the OP - most colleges will allow you to live AT HOME - with parents or family member etc… - as long as you live within a reasonable distance to the school - if it is absolutely necessary.</p>
<p>OK - now that you have read all the posts - I am curious as to what you now think and may possibly consider doing. Or have you left the thread??</p>
<p>I bet too many people are telling him to calm down, and thats not what he wanted to hear. He just wanted to know that his lawsuit threat would make everyone cater to him and his highness could do what he wants. Sorry to tell ya, but life doesnt work like that.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’d be interested in a response from the OP but my guess is that won’t happen.</p>
<p>Can’t vouch for the source but I thought it was funny…
[The</a> Straight Dope Mailbag: What diseases can you catch from toilet seats?](<a href=“http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoilet.html]The”>http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mtoilet.html)
Dear Straight Dope:</p>
<p>What EXACTLY can you catch from sitting on a toilet seat? I took an informal survey and asked several of my girlfriends if they sit on public toilet seats, and 9 of the 11 of them never do. When I asked why, all of them had some variation of “You never know what you can catch from a toilet seat.” So, please clear this up for all of us women who are afraid to sit down in a public restroom. --Nicole Anderson, Millis, MA</p>
<p>SDSTAFF Jill replies:</p>
<p>You can get cooties, and that’s about it. Sexually transmitted diseases are spread via sexual intercourse with an infected person. Most of them are spread more easily from male to female. The diseases vary in how infectious they are, but none of them are spread on toilet seats (well, assuming you’re using the toilet seat for what it was intended). Most bugs don’t tend to live on cool, hard surfaces.</p>
<p>I could add that a couple of diseases - syphilis and herpes - can be spread by direct non-sexual contact with infectious lesions, so make sure there is not an infected person already on the toilet when you sit down. One should consider HOW people sit on toilet seats. Genital and anal infections most likely would not come in contact with the seat in normal use. Intact skin is a good barrier against most disease organisms … unless of course one were to pick up a bacterium or virus on the seat, then immediately plant their buttocks on someone’s nose and mouth. If this were to happen to me, disease transmission would be the least of my concerns.</p>
<p>As far as other kinds of diseases that have different routes of transmission, such as oral/fecal or airborne, the hands are more to blame for spreading these diseases than the bottom is. Shake hands with a carrier, touch your eyes or mouth, and voila! You’ve caught that person’s cold or influenza. Eat food prepared by a person with hepatitis A (who didn’t wash their hands after using the toilet), and hey, you’ve got hepatitis! I guess theoretically if you sat on feces on the seat, got some on your hands when you wiped yourself, then licked your fingers (mmm, mmm!) you could possibly get hepatitis A, but it isn’t a primary route of transmission. Urine doesn’t carry any common diseases that I know of, but I sure hate it when people leave the seat wet.</p>
<p>–SDSTAFF Jill
Straight Dope Science Advisory Board</p>
<p>I can only wholly agree with the various comments on here… the original poster needs to get a grip and learn how to responsibly and respectfully deal with any medical issues they have or else they’ll run into some serious issues out in the ‘real world.’ The attitude taken in the original post is wholly unaccepible and unlikely to get one very far. </p>
<p>Most people and institutions are more than happy to do what they can to make accomidations for someone assuming such issues are brought forth in a respectful manner. However, when someone shows up with a ‘bow down and kiss my feet’ attitude with a list of demands full of statements that are simply false then I imagine the good will of the average person will be lost. </p>
<p>Finally, this ‘give me what I want or I’m going to sue you’ attitude is silly and immature, particularly given the reasons presented for the demands. College dorms as an inhumane unsanitary living environment? Please! Get. A. Grip. </p>
<p>If you expect the college to be reasonable and respectful towards you in addressing any medical condition you may have then you need to be reasonable and respectful towards them.</p>
<p>I once read something that said that it is more dangerous to NOT sit on the seat. When you hover, all the urine doesn’t get out and it causes some type of infection.</p>
<p>There are really only two different situations that can exist here… either:</p>
<p>1) You’re condition is really as serious as you’ve described it. Simple casual contact with another person who’s been exposed to certain allergens or being present in a building with certain items will send you to the hospital with a potentially fatal reaction. In this case, not only would you be unable to live in a dorm, but you would also be unable to go anywhere where a large number of people come into close contact with each other including classes, labs, dining halls, the library, the gym, etc. In short, you wouldn’t really be able to ‘goto’ college but would have to take all your classes remotely where you could stay in a hermetically sealed environment and avoiding all random contact with other people on campus as, obviously, you have no control over where they’ve been or what they’ve been in contact with. </p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>2) You’re grossly overexagerating your situation and just don’t want to live in the dorms and figure that by raising a fuss then you can get out of any on-campus living requirements. You do have some things that you’re allergic to, but in reality a few simple arrangements with the housing office (such as allowing an air filter in your room) would address the situation. The concerns raised over the bathroom situation have no factual basis and are purely psychological. </p>
<p>However, as they say, you can’t really ‘have your cake and eat it too’ as if you insist that a medical condition prevents you from living in the dorm then you can’t really argue then that all the other places on campus where you’ll be spending much of your time (sometimes even more than you’ll spend in a dorm) are OK and therefore you should still be able to attend class and other activities as normal. Either these issues exist or they don’t but they can’t selectively only apply to a ‘dorm.’ On this point, if you insist on coming out guns-a-blazing with threats of legal action then the most likely response from the college’s lawyers would be to say that they can’t accept any risk from you attending school there by, for example, making your family sign a waver of some sort. The college can’t control what the thousands of people a day you’ll come into close contact with do or have been in contact with themselves nor can they be expected to enclose the entire campus in a plastic bubble with hepa-filtration. </p>
<p>Only a reasonable assessment and presentation of the situation to appropriate officials is likely to result in a reasonable outcome.</p>
<p>Where is the OP?</p>
<p>and why hasn’t he RESPONDED to all of these rips with SARCASTIC rhetorical questions that have every other word in CAPS?</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you command such respect and talk down to others at the same time. Why do you feel the need to make yourself seem better than everyone else? And while I sympathize with your situation, your original post sounds like whining.</p>
<p>Maybe the OP got a ‘bad taste’ of reality in most of the responses and hit the road??!!?? uuummmmmmm</p>
<p>Maybe he’s busy filling a lawsuit?</p>
<p>yeah, hes suing all of us for not being his friends</p>