selfish

in a house where there are 8 people living in where usually only 5 live, it becomes a matter of trying to get what you want or need, as you may perceive it.

whether it be food, entertainment, sleeping quarters, or sleeping times or rising times, or conversation topics, it can be like trying to herd cats to get cooperation to happen with so many personalities.

one definition of selfish: 

1. devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarilywith one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardlessof others.

2.

characterized by or manifesting concern or care only foroneself: selfish motives.

I was getting very upset when things seemed like they were coming apart. one person was not tired and didn't want to go to bed. another who sleeps in the living room currently was entertaining themselves texting until person one went to bed. Then a car pulled up outside my window.  person one went over and turned on the outside and inside lights.  person 2 was texting.  I got up to see why we were turning lights on. person 3 was tossing and turning from the commotion.  

person one said'There's someone out there!"  I told them I didn't care and to turn the light off and don't worry about it.  

person one stomped off. person 2 asked if i could tell person one to go to bed cuz they were keeping him up.  

when i told person one to go to bed since person 2 had to go to school, she uttered some unmentionable and said that i couldn't tell her what to do.  i said, she could say what she liked, but go to bed and turn off the solitare game.

person 2 angrily stomped off to bed waking up a roommate.  shortly thereafter person one got too hot and opened the front door. person 2 came out to investigate. with all this going on outside my room, i once again got up and asked them to go to ved and for person 2 to stop texting. 

the door was shut. then a door was slammed. the roommate got up creeping to the bathroom. meanwhile 3 people slept irregardless of all the disruption.

I got to thinking of how selfish person one was.  i was irritated. from that person's perspective, they weren't tired and wanted to stay up and didn't care about anything else.

but my own selfishness was in wanting to go to bed once without getting up repeatedly and feeling very angry while trying to sleep.  

maybe sometimes we have reasonable desires-wants-needs but in a situation of overcrowding and sharing space, maybe we have to give up some personal comfort for the greater good.