Mooching has finally gone too far

By definition, a “mooch” as a noun is a beggar or scrounger. As a verb, it’s obtaining without asking or paying. By my definition, it’s the people I live with.

After exerting a certain amount of patience and food loss, I’m drawing the line. Just as there’s a difference between common sense and plain stupidity, there’s a fine difference between those who borrow once or twice and those who are ignorant and mooch.

If a roommate or friend asked to use my body wash because they ran out and didn’t have time to buy more, I’d be more than willing to share. If that same person continued to borrow my body wash because they didn’t want to or hadn’t “made time” to get their own, then it becomes a problem. In most cases, being a college student typically means that you’re on the edge of being dirt poor. And even if money wasn’t the case, no one likes carrying the weight of feeding another mouth, especially when they don’t have to.

If I want a case of water from Safeway, I have to buy it and drag it back to my place myself. Not anyone else. Just me. I don’t appreciate others drinking all my water or eating all my food like it’s nothing — especially if we’re not all that close. Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean it’s there for you.In our society, gender equality isn’t always fair, but in the world of bumming and taking what isn’t yours, both sexes are graced with the equal titles of being moochers and dependents. People didn’t work hard to get into college only to become dependent upon someone else. College is said to be the place for expanding educational horizons and becoming a successful individual, not a hobo.

Many feel the costly pressure of buying textbooks, and who would want to buy a textbook when they can just use someone else’s? No. Textbooks in certain classes can be shared when they’re not used as often, but given certain classes like English and math, textbooks cannot be shared. In my experience, it’s extremely annoying and frustrating when I’m trying to do my pop quiz that happened to allow open book, absent my book.

Let me be careful in saying that I’m not calling out those who eat other people’s fries or candy here and there. I’m addressing those who take willingly and consistently without the conscience or brains to realize what they’re doing. I’m also addressing those who use people for what they have.

A mooch is a fly: attracted to what’s not theirs, irritating and hard to get rid of.