A few years ago, Jessica Salinas was kind enough to help out a new friend who was in a tight spot. The friend, named Pippy, had ended up destitute without a home to call her own. So, Salinas generously offered Pippy a place to live with her.
But it didn’t take long for Pippy to get comfortable with her new rent-free arrangement.
She got VERY comfortable.
Without a job or any savings to speak of, Pippy has yet to contribute to the day-to-day finances of the home she now shares with Salinas — the groceries, the utility bills — not one cent. Yet Pippy’s sense of entitlement is such that she’s come to expect every little thing be provided to her with zero effort on her part.
Pippy’s never once offered to wash the dishes, in fact. She just leaves them there for her roommate to clean up.
“I have given her a good, comfortable life,” Salinas told The Dodo. “Clearly.”
While Salinas heads off to work each day, earning money to cover their shared expenses, Pippy can usually be found like this — flopped out someplace, unburdened by even the slightest semblance of personal responsibility.
Pippy is never waiting for her day to begin. This is it.
Exactly how she likes it.
Pippy has chosen a life of leisure, and her roommate, Salinas, has come to terms with that. But despite her low-impact lifestyle, Pippy still finds a way to be an outsized presence at home.
If Salinas wants to use the bathroom sink, say, she often finds it occupied for hours on end.
Guests dropping by to visit Salinas are forced to contend with her unemployed roommate, too.
She’s always just kind of hanging around, silently judging.
“She can be skeptical of new people,” Salinas said.
It can get a little awkward.
Seeing how Pippy regularly bogarts all the shared spaces at home, while at the same time contributing nothing to their upkeep, people in Salinas’ life have begun pointing out the undeniable truth.
Pippy’s a bit of a deadbeat.
But Salinas is already well aware of that.
Though Pippy might not pay rent or pitch in at all when it comes to household duties, just having her to spend time with is payment enough for Salinas.
“She holds a special place in my heart,” she said. “It’s very worthwhile having her around — even if she is a freeloader who takes advantage.”
