Passive Aggressive? Student Throws Away Roommate's Belongings as Part of Weekly Trash Run

Gentle pranks, kind-hearted jabs, and the occasional backstabbing is all considered par-for-the-course when it comes to living with a complete stranger in smaller quarters than a Tupperware container. But for this freshman, the usual callous disregard from his roommate escalated far beyond the normal hazing. 

When College freshman Joel Smith returned to the Ware double he shares with Wharton freshman John Stevenson on Monday night, he found his side of the shoebox-sized rectangle cleaner than usual. Too clean, in fact. 

“Everything was just — gone. I thought at first I was still tripping, but I woke up in the morning and realized I wasn’t sleeping on my bed. Instead, I was on the cold, hard linoleum floor. My Rocky poster, seventeen bottles of Vodka, and my torn and stained 2.500 Euro Jacket were all gone. (Aside: Smith is from Bethesda, Maryland, and has never lived outside the US.)

Stevenson had apparently thrown away all of Smith’s belongings during his Monday room cleaning and trash run. Residents are split on whether Stevenson’s actions can be described as “passive-aggressive.”

“Yeah, I think so," said hallmate Margorie Tinker. “I mean, all Joel did was be an elitist asshole 90% of the time. That’s 10% less than my roommate, and I've never thrown out all her stuff. I just make snide comments towards her about everything from her shoes to her failing relationship, and only a few of those are actually to her face.”

Amy Lee, from Fairfax, Virginia, isn’t sure if Stevenson knew he was doing anything out of the ordinary.  “It’s not really clear whether he was being malicious, or if John couldn’t tell the difference between Joel's belongings and trash.” 

Stevenson could not be reached for comment, as, at the time of this article, he has switched into a single in Hill in order to get as far as possible from both Smith and his lawyers.