The reset button

A good thing happened in the roommate situation: we had a genuine conversation. Things had gotten so bad that even he couldn't take it anymore. He initiated a discussion; he agreed that he was trying too hard to be my friend, and agreed that he'd stop. I agreed to be (even) more direct when he does things that bother me. He explained that he'd never had a roommate before-- that he'd only lived with his wife and kids, and they're all extroverts, so he had different expectations. He seemed genuinely willing to try to stop trying. He'd even wondered to himself why he'd been trying so hard. Hopefully, you'll have a lot less roommate blogging to read from now on.