It’s that time again for turf wars in college campuses as they prepare to take in freshman, meaning every student is planning on grabbing the best bed. One could say this is a small issue since a bed is a just bed, but for college students, that bed will be their home for the next 3-4 years.
Picking the right bed is a big deal. While one student has his bed near a window with power sockets within rich and a desk at the corner, his roommates don’t have it so easy. They have to use ladders to reach their beds and the power sockets are out of reach. Plus, their desk and dressers are squeezed beneath the place where they sleep.
While the beds themselves are important, the process of choosing beds is even more important. This is so important that Harvard has written a policy about it.
“Do not choose beds, furniture, or room arrangements until all of your roommates have arrived.”Despite having this policy, not every student can let it dictate how they choose something this significant. This policy has resulted in “low-key snagging,” a passive-aggressive tactic used by students to select the bed they want. They do this by placing their belongings in the best bed to mark their territory.
According to the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School’s co-founder and MIT professor, Lawrence Susskind, this is a bad idea. He says it is a short-term victory that can lead to a lifetime of resentment.
As students prepare for the turf wars, it is best to avoid “low-key snagging” if roommate relationships are to be successfully sustained as long as they are living together.