House Share Dillemma

jenny jinks

I am sharing a house with three other girls. One girl is older in her 30s and the rest of us are in our 20s. I moved in over a year ago after someone else had moved out. The girls told me that they were fussy about keeping the house clean and tidy. They said I should not move in unless I was prepared to do my share and keep up with their standards.
Things were all right for a few weeks but I got a little sloppy and my bad habits from living at home till I was in my mid 20s began to surface. The girls gave out a few times but I shrigged it off and smiled back.
One Saturday morning all of the other girls burst into my bedroom when I was still in bed. They surrounded the bed and told me that I was a filthy slob and listed out things I had done or not done over the previous fortnight. Then one of them suddenly threw the covers off the bed and they jumped on me. They held me face down on the bed and beat my bum with a hairbrush. Each of them gave me a few whacks. I was shocked at the time and was going to leave but in the end I stayed on. I mended my ways and began to enjoy living in the house. Everybody pulled their weight and was considerate of others. I became a bit of a clean freak and am now even fussier that the others.
Recently one of the girls moved out after getting a job in a different part of the country. A new girl has moved in and after starting well has become very sloppy and is quite rude some times. The other two girls want me to join with them and give her the hairbrush treatment. One of them got it when she moved in, about six months before me. The same group has been in the house for about seven years and the hairbrush treatment was started by the first girls in the house. Only one of them is left.
I feel very uneasy about taking part in something like this. I know it was good for me and taught me a lesson, but what if the girl complained to the police?
I do not want to leave the house and I would like to put our new housemate on the right track before she drives me mad.
Any ideas?

Magenta

I would highly recommend getting out of that house. It almost sounds like a cult.
Beating someone with a hairbrush is Assault plain and simple.
You are not a teacher in the 1960s dishing out the punishment to a child.
You are all adults!

Carsinian Thau

Get out of the house. And under no circumstances partake in that treatment.

No-one has the right to do something like that to another and an attempt to exercise said non-existant right would go very badly if she decided to get the authorities involved.

tenchi-fan

it's definitely a novel way of dealing with the problem. I shared plenty of places where at least one person would have benefited from the hairbrush treatment.....

Having said that, I just moved out rather than acted completely insane! It could get you into a lot of trouble and it could make the situation worse. You should just call a meeting some evening and give her the choice to pull her weight or move out.

JuliusCaesar

this might just about be ok if you were a group of teenage girls. There are adult ways of dealing with this.

Yes it is assault.

Phlann

Christ.

When I read the story about the hairbrush, I thought your question was going to be "Should I report them?"

My answer was going to be 'yes'.

Do not get involved.

edit: Actually, what am I saying, tell them not to do it!!

Nevyn

You should not assault anyone or take part in someone being assaulted.
You could find yourself being up on charges and being arrested for this type of behaviour.
It is an illegal act and this forum and the site can not condone such matters
so I am locking this thread.