Agony Aunt: What to do if you accidentally see your flatmate naked

Ever walked in on a flatmate while they were naked? Here’s Agony Aunt’s advice on how to deal with the awkwardness…

Dear Liv,

I need your help – the most embarrassing thing has happened to me. Over the course of first year our flat have grown really close and have started walking in to each other’s rooms openly. I did this to my male neighbour the other day, and he was getting changed… so I saw him naked. I wouldn’t usually have thought this would be too much of a big deal, I’d have naturally just laughed it off and walked out, but he shouted at me and hasn’t spoken to me since. It’s been a week, and it’s going increasingly awkward and uncomfortable. How do you suggest I approach this?!

Hannah

Hi Hannah,

Oh dear. Not an ideal situation! I think the difficult part here is that a week has passed already, which makes any form of communication about the situation difficult. I would firstly try and start up an unrelated conversation, and see how it flows. If it’s somewhere near normal, build on that. It may still be awkward for a little while, but hey, baby steps. If it doesn’t help, or he ignores you (gulp), I think you might have to face the very awkward conversation. What you need to remember here that he is probably more embarrassed than you, and he seems to be someone that isn’t quite at ease with his body. Just explain to him that it wasn’t intentional and that you’re very sorry for making him uncomfortable – and promise to knock next time. I’m sure in a month or so when the ‘Never have I ever… seen my flatmate naked’ statement gets asked at predrinks it’ll soon become a laughing matter!

Good luck!

Liv x

(o.j.gillard@warwick.ac.uk).