Woman Refusing to Care About Roommate's Boyfriend and His Allergies Praised

The internet has backed a woman who refused to let her roommate's boyfriend tell her what foods she could keep in her apartment, where he doesn't live.

In a post shared on Reddit under the username u/ExpertPotato7447, the woman explained that her roommate, Layla, is dating a man named Kyle with severe allergies to soy, nuts and shellfish, as well as some other minor allergies, and because of that, she has had to adjust to cooking without these ingredients every time he comes over.

According to Food Allergy Research & Education, about 32 million Americans have some type of food allergy. The most common include shellfish: 8.2 million; milk: 6.1 million; peanut: 6.1 million; and tree nuts: 3.9 million.

While initially, the poster's roommate was fine with the arrangements and would let her know when her boyfriend was coming over in order to avoid cooking anything harmful, she recently came up with a new request.

"It's slowly escalated and now they want me to not keep any ingredient in the apartment that could cause him anaphylaxis, even if I'm not actively eating or cooking it while he's over," the Redditor wrote.

She refused to abide by their request and they pushed back until she "snapped," telling the couple that she doesn't care about Kyle's allergies.

"I don't give a f*** about his allergies," she wrote. "I can accommodate him to an extent but I don't care if the contents of my cabinet make him uncomfortable. He doesn't need to be near my things at all. They're being very dramatic and insisting I'm gonna 'kill him' with my selfishness by having closed jars of nuts in the kitchen I pay to use. But I'm not going to have my diet restricted by someone who doesn't even live here."

Now her roommate is not speaking to her, but the lease for their apartment, where they have only lived for 10 months, is for two years. The poster now fears that she'll be "miserable" until it ends.

Florence Ann Romano, personal growth strategist, and author of Build Your Village: A Guide to Finding Joy and Community in Every Stage of Life, told Newsweek: "I can understand wanting to keep the environment clear of mistakes, but this sounds a little extreme and unfair.

"As long as the roommate keeps her food separate, and does a thorough job of washing up after herself when preparing food, then they should be able to overcome this hurdle," she said. "Perhaps they could implement a checklist that's visible in the kitchen regarding hygiene or food preparation practices."

The post originally shared on the r/AmItheA****** (AITA) subreddit, where users discuss their actions with strangers, quickly went viral, receiving over 10,300 upvotes and 1,600 comments.

One user, Throwawaydaughter555, commented: "Honestly I wonder if this Main character syndrome spawns out of a desire to shove OP (original poster) out of the lease and insert Kyle in instead. Whatever the case if he is so deathly allergic that even being within 10 feet of these molecules is too much then they should just spend time together at his place."

Redditor kawaiismaug suggested: "You should start texting her: 'I'm cooking shrimp, Kyle shouldn't come over.' Absolutely [Not The A******]."

Boring_Ghoul_451 wrote: "I have a feeling the boyfriend will be around a lot more often (ie move in unofficially) if you were to remove your food items. [Not The A******]."

LamIrene wrote: "[Not The A******]. Kyle doesn't live there. If his allergies are so severe, he probably shouldn't be putting himself in harm's way by coming to your apartment.

KarmaWillGetYa said: "Is he on the lease and paying rent? No? Then [Not The A******]. You are. You live there. You have a right to live there with your food and belongings. I think it's great you're trying your best to be considerate of his allergies in your cooking but that should be the limit."

Newsweek reached out to u/ExpertPotato7447 for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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