Managers Reveal The Stupidest Reason Customers Have Asked To See Them
Managers are not the yes men customers hope them to be, especially when their requests have gone off the rails. You can't ask a hotel to fire Latino workers. You can't demand a restaurant refund your food because your hair was in it. And expired coupons? Use them before they expire. Managers know when people are trying to pull a fast one, and then they will shame you on Reddit.
Hglittle asked managers of Reddit: What's the stupid reason a customer has asked to see you?
Submissions have been edited for clarity, context, and profanity.
Lady, I think you've had enough.
Restaurant manager here.
We provide complimentary bread baskets on our dinner tables. One lady clicked me over (because who doesn't love that?) to tell me I was running the most unhygienic establishment that she had ever eaten in, and that, with her food hygiene level 3 certificate, she could and should have me shut down.
Why the fuss?
There was some "jam" on the bread, and I had clearly taken used breakfast stock and tried to cost cut by serving contaminated bread at dinner. I'd cut the bread not 10 minutes before, burning my hands on it as it was fresh out of the oven, definitely not leftovers.
I apologized profusely yet non committally, removing the offending bread amid increasingly patronizing comments about how I really ought to know how to run a restaurant and that being so thick as to do this blah blah blah...
On inspection, the red blobs of jam we're drips of red wine from the bottle next to the bread basket, that the lady had poured herself.
Needless to say, I wasn't shut down.
Nope.
I've worked in bars for 9/10 years, from a teen, right through uni and manage a bar. This happened when I was supervisor not manager.
Real quiet night, we have a horseshoe shaped bar so when it's quiet like to have one staff member on either end of the bar and one in the middle so all sides are covered and customers are served as quick as possible. The regular customers know how this system works.
The girl who was covering the middle of the bar had gone to the toilet/to collect some glasses or whatever. One of the regulars walks up and I head over to serve him, he refuses my service for no apparent reason. As soon as the girl who was originally there comes back the regular gets angry... "where the f#&k have you been? I've been waiting ages!" She explains whatever the reason was and he's still shouting, I head over and ask him politely to stop shouting and ask him what he'd like to drink (again).
He kept on and on and on, swearing at us both until I told him I wasn't getting a drink for the rest of the evening and to go home or go somewhere else. The guy gets even angrier, and lunges towards me over the bar with a clenched fist. What he obviously didn't pay attention to was the shelves above the bar for storing glasses, THWACK. Guy smashes his forehead straight into the shelf, all the other regulars laugh.
He loses his mind, and asks to speak to my manager (who was in sight of the whole ordeal and keeping a close eye on things), and tries to get him to punish me for causing him a "serious injury." We all laughed in his face and he sure as hell isn't a regular in this pub anymore!
TL;DR: regular customer gets angry for no reason, tries to punch me, whacks his head pretty hard, then asks my manager to punish me for causing him harm.
Ohh...kay...
Used to be front office manager in a hotel. In our rooms we had three phones. One next to the bed, one in the bathroom and one on the desk. This is already a lot but in the past we also had an additional 4th phone on the side table. So one day a customer asked to see me requesting the 4th phone because you could clearly see the telephone socket in the wall (neatly covered) and thus his room was not complete. I asked him why he needed 4 phones in his room, he said because clearly in the past there were 4 phones and that's what he paid for (we didn't advertise online with 4 phones, but i had maintenance bring up a forth phone nonetheless).
Where it this crazy hotel?
(I also managed a hotel)
Front desk calls me and asks me if we have any spare Bibles because room XX is asking for one. I happily oblige and walk it over myself. I apologize and hand it over to the man. Casually ask him if he normally reads the Bible.
"No... I just like to have it. Just in case."
Me: (thinking to myself) Just in case what?! The rapture happens all of a sudden?!
"Oh ok! Good night sir."
Managed a hotel in rural Georgia (the State in the U.S) and I get a call from our front desk clerk saying someone wants to talk to me.
I head over and this woman just wants to inform me that "she was going to stay at this hotel but noticed that we hire 'them Mexicans' (pointing at our housekeepers) so she won't be staying here anymore."
I politely told her they're Guatemalan and that I appreciate her opinion but don't need her business.
This set her off and she proceeded to go on a rant about how she knows the Sheriff and she'll report me for hiring Illegals (they weren't), and how we were racist, ageist, and sexist against her.
I told her to please do so and pointed at the CCTV.
She stormed off and the Sheriff never showed up.
When you try to pull a fast one, and it backfires spectacularly.
I had this insane woman flag me down at a Chinese Restaurant I used to manage.
She very loudly told me she found a hair in her Mongolian lamb, and showed me a long sauce covered blonde hair. For reference, I had short black hair at the time and the entire kitchen and wait staff on that night had relatively short black hair. The woman had long blonde hair.
Instead of letting her cause more of a scene, I apologized and got the kitchen to make her a new serving to replace the meal (even though she and her kids had essentially eaten the entire serving already.)
The part where sh!t started to really go down was when she came up with her family to pay. She refused to pay her ENTIRE bill due to the "HUGE THICK HAIR I FOUND IN MY FOOD" which she loudly announced to the room. At this point, the restaurant owner came out and started having a screaming match with the woman for trying to rip us off. Her kids appeared to cry on cue.
I sent my boss back to the kitchen and said I would figure it out. I turned to the woman and explained calmly that I would be happy to take the Mongolian Lamb off of her tally (despite the replacement serving) so long as she paid the other $90+ for the rest of the bill.
She refused and called the cops because my boss had yelled at her. No joke.
Best bit was the cops ended up telling the woman she needs to pay her full bill and that emergency services shouldn't be called for such petty reasons.
Happy I'm not in that industry anymore haha...
TLDR; Lady tries to use her own hair to get out of paying for her table's food. Aussie Cops provide quality sass.
When a customer doesn't know how beer works.
Because a bartender properly poured a beer. It was Stella in the Stella chalice. It's listed in the menu as 13.5 oz and that's the fill line. Dude asked the bartender to top him off as the head had died down a bit. Bartender does so and the guy wants the head completely poured off. Bartender points out the fill line and says that he can't just pour away beer (head is mostly beer). Customer takes this as attitude.
Dude doesn't like it and comes to me and since I hadn't heard this, I immediately point out the fill line. He ended up returning the beer.
I like to think that he had to go to the bathroom where he would have walked passed that lame 9-step perfect Stella pour poster that we have that specifically references the fill line and that the beer is supposed to have head.
Oh, and I had to spend a solid 5 minutes explaining sales tax and how it applies at a restaurant, but not at a grocer.
All this over half a dollar.
Quite a few years ago I was working at a pizza chain and I had someone call in and ask an employee if we would honor a coupon that was over a week expired. My employee told her that we couldn't honor it but he would ask me. Before he got the chance to ask me she decided to make a big fuss/was fairly disrespectful to my employee and wanted to speak to me about it directly. She complained saying it was only expired by "a few days." I backed what my employee had told her, we wouldn't be honoring it.
About 20 minutes later we got a call from her again and this time I had answered. She didn't make it the whole way through asking if we would honor before I told her the answer was still no. We had caller ID so I knew it was her again.
About an hour after the second call the employee who took the first call comes back to me saying there is a woman at the front of the store who wanted to speak to me about him not honoring a coupon. It was the same expired coupon. She told me that she would be going elsewhere for pizza from that point on because our service was terrible, specifically that not honoring an expired coupon for a loyal customer (I had never seen her before and we had no records of orders from her) was "bad business." I told her she was welcome to go elsewhere.
The ultimate kicker is that the coupon was for 50 cents off any order. It wasn't a big deal and I would have absolutely honored it had she not treated my employee like sh!t on the phone.
Tl;dr - customer was rude to my employee so I wouldn't honor her expired coupon.
I have nothing to add.
Asking me what the showtimes were.
They demanded I come over to guest service where they stood tapping their foot impatiently. Keep in mind I am in another part of the building, so it takes me several minutes to walk all the way there.
I get to guest service and ask them what the issue is. They say "We need to know the show times for today" I give them a weird look, as the box office is literally right outside the doors with a huge marquee displaying the digital showtimes. We also had a huge digital maquee sign on the inside of the building in the lobby displaying all of the current showtimes. It was also a weekday, so it was slow.
"We have the showtimes outside on the display board in box office.." I mistakenly told them.
"Well its COLD outside."
This really baffled me as it was nearly 60 degrees that day and the husband was wearing shorts (60 is warm as I live in the northeast) After reading them some showtimes they got mad "Well don't you have anything right now??"
I told them that no, we did not have anything starting in the next five minutes.
They stormed off without buying any tickets.
Don't know how someone ends up that entitled/stupid and complains about standing outside in spring weather.
Of all the stories on here, this one confuses me most. What did they hope to gain by making you repeat the showtimes? How bored do you have to be to find enjoyment in that, and then not even stay for a show?
There always seems to be a paradox between these people having extremely high standards for the delivery and certain little aspects of the product but extremely low standards on the product itself. She was willing to see any crappy movie that started soon, obviously not some kind of film buff that just flew in from Cannes. Same with these people that have melt downs over fast food, or long lines at them. I witnessed a lady at a very crowded convenience store (surrounded by several nice coffee shops btw) yelling at a busy worker because they were ALMOST out of lids and cream, she was able to get everything but every time he tried to ask her what she needed she yelled "just do your job!"
If you're gonna sneak in, be nice.
Was the casino beverage manager in Vegas and was covering the pool bar manager that day.
It was in the middle of summer and the pool team calls me saying an irate woman wanted to speak to the manager.
I make my way out there in 100F heat, while wearing my suit and tie.
This lady was seated in the VIP area and was complaining that her margarita had melted within 10 minutes and wanted me to give her a replacement as it "melted too fast".
Last I checked, being a beverage manager didn't give me control of the elements nor the laws of thermal dynamics. But, I tried to reason with her that it was 100F and we can't prevent ice from melting (but I sure as hell was melting in the sun with my black suit). She was totally livid and insisted that either we get her a replacement or to put her partially consumed drink back into the blender with more ice. Reblending the drink was never gonna happen as it violates a bunch of health codes.
I turned to the pool manager and asked, "Did anyone verify her VIP status?" as VIP guests have an assigned casino host which would liaise with me directly, or I would know who the VIP guests are during the pre-shift brief.
Long story short, she snuck into the VIP area, so I got security to kick her out of the pool in a blink.
This is wholesome content.
Good ending story,
Was a manager for a Music/game cd store back in 2007-9.
Was called in for an old grumpy man returning a CD which was not working.
He was nearly crying, the CD was expensive. It was all very scratched like it went through sandpaper.
We had a no-return policy after the package was opened, as these were original CD's. He came in claiming that the CD was not working.
We usually tested if the CD, if it played and didn't skip, we just gave it back. I tested the CD it actually played.
After a conversation, it did not work in his car, which was parked just outside the shop.
I went with him, perhaps he was not pressing the wrong button.
After arriving at the car and looking at the stereo, it had no CD player, he managed to jam the CD between the dash and the tape player, it did not play, so he removed part of the dash and took it out, and tried again.
After explaining this to him, he literally was crying.
I was unable to refund the CD under the policy. And the CD actually played because the plastic was damaged, but the top was not.
Thinking he will have a heart attack, and feeling sorry for him, I offered to copy the CD to a Tape, and he can keep the CD for when he gets a CD player.
I copied the CD to a tape, he was happy, and later returned to the shop many to buy tapes, was really friendly to me, saying I remind him of his son who died in the war (while being super grumpy at everybody else) and brought pastry his wife made as gifts every time he came.
TL:DR Gramps stuffed CD in tape player, messed it up, I copied CD to Tape. He became a regular and brought homemade pastry.
What a surprise.
Customer comes to the bar and demands to speak to the manager, won't say why, won't deal with anyone else. He's told I'm not working for another 3 hours and says he'll wait, stands at the bar angrily. Staff call upstairs to me (I live up there) and explain he's just standing there tutting. He realises they're on the phone to me and gets angry because I'm upstairs and won't speak to him.
Went down and asked the problem. "When X ran this pub he used to have Mild on tap for me. You don't. It's disgraceful, what am I mean to drink now?"
I explained that yes, X did stock Mild and when I arrived I audited the stock and realised most of the barrel was getting wasted every week. So I stopped ordering it and switched to an ale that would sell. Dickhead is still angry and says if I order it he'll drink it. I tell him he'll have to drink 9 gallons in 3 days. Still adamant I should order it. So I told him I'd order a barrel, and if it didn't sell he could pay for the wastage.
I got a spare barrel from another pub, tapped it, waited and surprise surprise, he had one pint that week and sheepishly vanished forever.
These people are so annoying.
I worked at a Toyota dealership and a salesman said his customer asked to speak to the manager because Jesus told her that we would provide her with a car. I asked her if Jesus was paying cash or financing. She literally expected us to just go, "Oh ok, well...pick out whatever tickles your fancy!"
As a server I got "Tipped" in Jesus pamphlets every Sunday. I thought about asking them if instead they could pray that Jesus would pay my light bill instead of sending me Bible pamphlets.
The nerve!
Not a manager, but I once had a woman ask me, very rudely, to get her a manager "this instant" because my behavior was "completely unnacceptable."
She'd asked me where something was and I simply said "It's over in (section), I'd show you over but unfortunately I'm tied up with another customer at the moment. Once I'm finished with her I can meet you over there and we can look for it together, or I can call on the radio and see if anyone's able to meet you there sooner."
"It's over in (section), I'd show you over but unfortunately I'm tied up with another customer at the moment. Once I'm finished with her I can meet you over there and we can look for it together, or I can call on the radio and see if anyone's able to meet you there sooner."
Woah woah how the hell do you type these words here? It's the internet, kids can access this stuff!!
The best part is the other customer was with me and as soon as we left the rude one she went "the f*ck was her problem?"
When they think the rules don't apply to them.
I get called over for a price match for a Lego set. I get there, and it's clearly a clearance price from a different location, which is a policy exclusion, of which I inform him.
shows receipt "It's from a different location! You have to honor it!"
"Clearance differs from store to store, but regardless, the price match policy excludes clearance pricing."
"So I'll call customer service and if they overrule you, you'll do it."
I walk away while he makes his call. Of course, he doesn't get his way because the policy is available for literally anyone to read before doing all this horse sh*t.
TL;DR: Just because it's clearance there doesn't mean it is or is going to be here.
Ahh hahahahaha. Damn you physics!
I worked at a marine business for a number of years. I was the head buyer for a long time. One of the things we sold was anchor chain, we sold a lot of chain for boats. We would buy it in bulk and sell it for the same amount as online retailers when you account for shipping. In a lot of cases we sell 250'+ to a single buyer.
I had a customer come in and want to buy 250' of 3/8" chain, this stuff weighed right around 2lbs per foot. He wasn't happy with the price that was listed and asked the sales staff for someone higher up, I was the only one available and had to go deal with this. He pulled up the internet and showed me this place that was 3 states away had it for sales slightly cheaper than what we sold it for. I told him we wouldn't price match and he'd still have to pay shipping. The guy says "No I don't, I'll drive to go get it." Great, go get it.
Fast forward two weeks, guy comes in and I asked about his purchase. Yes, he did buy it and yes he did drive three states away to pick it up in his HONDA CIVIC HATCHBACK. He blew out both rear shocks because the dumbass didn't account for the weight of 250' of anchor chain in the back of a car. It was pure vindication.
He blew out both rear shocks because the dumbass didn't account for the weight of 250' of anchor chain in the back of a car.
I used to work at a lumber yard driving a forklift and I can't tell you how many times someone screamed at me for not putting 2,000 pounds of cement block or concrete in the back of a small S10 truck or loading 700 pounds of lumber on top of a luxury SUV. People are just dumb.
These are the same people who expect you to show up at their house and help unload it for them.
It must be for free and god help you if tell them there will be a delivery charge.
People Share Their Very Specific Dating Restrictions
Reddit user AceofSpadesYT asked: 'What is your most specific restriction when it comes to dating?'
When it comes to dating, I have my mental checklist. The guy must be kind, intelligent, funny, and a movie buff. He must be adventurous but also doesn't mind a Netflix and Chill date night.
Most of this is similar to the mental checklists other people have. Of course, I can be flexible. If someone is nice and I'm having fun with them, they don't necessarily have to check all the boxes.
However, I have one specific dating restriction that is a dealbreaker regardless of how many boxes the person checks, and that's religion. I've never been a fan, and now I'm an atheist, and I would want my partner to be as well. That's because I want kids, and the last thing I want is for us to argue about how to raise the kids when it comes to religion.
I'm not the only person who has one specific dating restriction. Everyone has that one thing that is a dealbreaker when it comes to a romantic relationship. Redditors certainly do, and they are ready to share.
It all started when Redditor AceofSpadesYT asked:
"What is your most specific restriction when it comes to dating?"
It's Just A Joke!
"No cruel or rude pranks."
– detective_kiara
"I saw a post by someone whose boyfriend "pranked" her by pretending to be dead on the kitchen floor. That is exactly how she had found her previous partner, dead on the kitchen floor, which her current boyfriend knew. He was surprised she dumped him and didn't think it was funny."
– innocuousspeculation
We're (Not) Gonna Party!
"No party people. Nothing wrong with it, I just ain't dealing with that sh*t."
– PlantBasedStangl
"True. I like planning weekend stuff, but it has to be something meaningful - visiting a different city, movie marathon, mountain hike, fancy lunch, all okay. But... clubbing and drinking? How f**king old are we, 19? No thank you, I'm old and have no energy for listening to music I don't like while being surrounded by 50 people that I don't give a single half of a sh*t about."
– PlantBasedStangl
LOL
"Same sense of humor. I have 0 interest sharing physical space with someone who doesn't laugh with me."
– Legendary_Lamb2020
My Ears Are Bleeding!
"I'm a light sleeper. I cannot date a snorer. I can hear snores through ear plugs AND a fan blowing. It's not you, it's me."
– YourLocalOrca
At that point, it does sound like them 😂
– CuriousRedditor98
Funemployed
"Have a f**king job."
– Cuss-Mustard
"Found this difficult when I was funemployed. Was fortunate enough to be able to live off savings for a bit."
"People reacted oddly to it. “But what do you do???”"
"Was dating at the same time and some girls had the same sentiment. “You don’t have a job?”"
"I had a good enough job that I didn’t need one anymore. And one lined up 8 months from then. But there were two girls specifically who treated it as a deal breaker."
– DigNitty
"I had a similar situation. I worked a high-paying job for a few years that demanded a ton of my time and had crazy hours. It burnt me out badly and I lived off of the savings from that job for a while and tried to date now that I actually had free time. I had more money in my bank account during that time than at any other point in my life but so many people were put off by me being funemployed and assumed I was looking to leech. But I guess there’s really no way to know someone's history and hard not to assume. Now I work full-time and have way less money overall but it looks better..."
– Pinsit
Just Breathe
"No smoking. Ever. I'm not kissing an ashtray, or smelling an ashtray. Instant turn off."
–fishfood19
"100% I broke up with an old gf because she started smoking behind my back knowing I’ve got asthma and it was always a hard pass. She thought I was joking but it showed me that she was also untrustworthy."
– Jonowl89
That'll Do It
"I guess my husband restricts my dating."
– HeinousEncephalon
"My wife has the same rule. But the jokes on her, I get around it by dating her!"
– AuralRapist
Prehistoric Love
"Must like dinosaurs."
– Grungeceratops
"That goes without saying."
– Plain_Chacalaca
What's In A Name?
"Cannot have the same name as any of my relatives."
– Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
"My last ex had the same name as my Dad and I reeeeeeaally didn't like it. So, fair."
– severaltalkingducks
Be Polite
"If they’re rude to people they’ll never see again (Waitstaff, cashiers, etc) I’m out."
"I can’t respect anyone who doesn’t respect themselves, and when you’re not polite to people you’re disrespecting yourself."
– OctopusCandleCompany
God Only Knows
"When I was dating, you had to be an atheist. I don't mess with religion. And I genuinely just don't think atheists + religious people work out."
"And I know... There's going to be someone who comments (assuming there are enough upvotes) who says "I worked out with my spouse who's religious and I'm not!" but you're the exception. When it comes to making decisions long-term, how to spend your money, where you think you'll go after you die, not to mention basic morality (!), and if you have children - that's a huge hurdle."
– Lulu_42
"We worked it out. It's absolutely an exception and not the rule. Don't do it if you can avoid it."
– Alcoraiden
Let's Move Tonight (Literally)
"They need to be ok with cold weather."
"I grew up in the north, live in the south, and I'm tolerating it until I can move back north. If someone says they hate the cold it's an instant turn-off because I don't want to drag someone into a climate they hate."
"The same thing also applies to walkability. I want to move somewhere walkable, and I hope to meet someone with that same goal rather than try to talk them into it."
– ThePresidentCantSwim
"Let me know when you find this mythical northern walkable community."
– Partner-Elijah
My Purr-fect Match
"Cat has to approve."
– Possible-Source-2454
Non-Negotiable
"They need to be male. Kind of important."
– RMHaney
"So weird, I want the complete opposite."
– eightvo
Yeah, the male thing is kind of important for me too!
Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments.
Life is full of shock and surprise.
Apparently, that is part of the fun.
Who hasn't been left stunned by life events?
We always think we're immune to way too many things.
Anything and everything is possible.
It's important to be ready.
Redditor Bob_the_peasant wanted to hear about the things that have left people SHOOK, so they asked:
"What 'That can’t happen to me' thing happened to you?'"
I haven't been left that shocked that often.
I'm always expecting the worst, so I'm prepared.
But you never know.
I'm Dead
Snakes Imacelebau GIF by I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! AustraliaGiphy"A snake fell out of a tree and bit me on the head."
"ETA: I have always been more scared of snakes than anyone I know, so it’s just so ironic that this happened to me of all people."
amanitachill
Crash Into Me
"A car crashed through my kitchen last year."
aster636
"I woke up to a truck parking in my bathtub 2 weeks before Christmas a few years ago. I watched my sink roll past my bedroom door followed by a hubcap. The driver managed to cross a median, 3-lane road, up an embankment, through an iron fence and between trees. He'd been involved in an altercation nearby and was fleeing the scene."
anjie59k
Hot Air
Swinging Hot Air Balloon GIF by Red BullGiphy"My family and I were in a hot air balloon crash."
GymDoll2000
"My friend had one crash into her pool when she was a kid."
Environmental-Car481
This is why hot air balloons and skydiving are just a HELL no for me.
Always have. Always will.
Tragic
Cat No GIF by Looney TunesGiphy"My wife cheated on me with my best friend. They’re moving in together next month. I’m in a new city thousands of miles away. I found out a month ago."
Tssodie
Bad Penguin
"Everyone else’s stories are very sad so here’s something a bit lighter. I’ve mentioned this story before but I got bitten on the neck by a penguin."
"I was at an event where the local zoo had a penguin and owl sitting on tables with handlers so you could take a picture next to them. The penguin went for my glass of wine, I moved the wine, and it bit me on the neck hard enough to bruise. They removed the penguin after that. 😂."
archaeologistbarbie
All Gone
"Our house burned in a wildfire, we lost absolutely everything we owned and only salvaged a single coffee 3 cup."
"On the good side: There was a boy I crushed on all through high school. We went to summer camp together and I adored him. We ended up getting together in our 20s after reconnecting, and have now been together more than 20 years, married almost 17. We’re as madly in love as ever."
toomuchisjustenough
Good Luck
"Homelessness. It came swiftly and out of nowhere. had no savings and the landlord sold the house I was in. couldn’t afford a new place so lived in my car with my dog for a few months. ended up finding community assistance and got into an apartment."
jumbospicyslimjim
"I can’t even imagine being in that situation. Hopefully, this is just the start of things turning around for you. Sending you good energy!"
frappbarqueen
Early Michael Myers
"About 10 years ago, I was stabbed in the arm with a flathead screwdriver. It was a coworker whom I had previously gotten along well with. He had stopped taking benzos and smoking weed a few days before and was on a hair trigger. I said something sarcastic, and he just snapped."
Mr_Spaghetti_Hands
Bad Landing
Bad Day Seagull GIF by Sound FXGiphy"I was lying on the beach and a seagull flying very high took a poop and it went straight in my mouth."
Competitive_Show6205
This is why I say... "Never trust a seagull!"
They are minions of the devil.
People's Craziest 'You Can't Eat At Everyone's House' Experiences
We've all heard the phrase, "You can't eat at everybody's house," but some of us have a few examples of our own to live by.
From not properly cleaning the environment to questionable hygiene ourselves, there are countless reasons why a person may not want to eat what you've cooked after watching you prepare it.
Bracing themselves, Redditor 195901 asked:
"What is your 'you can't eat at everybody's house' horror story?"
Fly Spray Sandwiches
"I told my dad my sandwich tasted like fly spray at my grandma's house. He didn’t believe me."
"Two days later, I caught my grandma spraying the benches 'clean' with the two-dollar fly spray you find at the cheap store."
"Dad figured it was safe to make sandwiches straight on the countertop because they looked clean. I dragged him over to see and he apologized and took my sister and me for fish and chips for lunch."
- littlehungrygiraffe
Special Seasoning Deviled Eggs
"My crackpot aunt served us a lovely tray of deviled eggs, complete with very old paprika sprinkled on top. So old, in fact, the many weevils mixed in it were dead."
- PhoneboothLynn
A Disturbing Surprise
"I visited a friend's house who was living with his mother, and she asked if I wanted a coffee and I said I would."
"Upon getting to the bottom of the cup and taking the last few gulps, I found there was a used bandaid stuck to the bottom… I never ate or drank there again."
- MrRailton
In Need of Child Protective Services
"I was babysitting a kid in a pretty dirty house. I was told to wake him up, supervise bathing and changing clothes, and feed him. I was welcome to whatever was in the fridge. Okay. The house and his clothes were filthy."
"Then, when I opened the cabinets, floods of roaches poured out. There were roaches in every opened box and container."
"I took him back to my house and returned him later that day. I hope the boy ended up in a better situation. I found out CPS (Child Protective Services) got involved shortly after."
- Alltheprettydresses
Traumatized by Raisins
"I was gonna complain about raisins in the potato salad but the other comments on here are scary. Oh my god."
- tcumber
"When I was a young kid, I stayed over at a friend's place, and his mom made veal or something with godd**n raisins INSIDE the meat somehow. It was so nasty, I never forgot it."
- User2716057
You WISH That Was Vinegar
"My MIL fished around in the green bin (compost bin) with her bare hands, didn't wash them, WIPED her GARBAGE JUICE HANDS on the tea towel, and then WENT BACK TO PREPPING THE SALAD."
"She also got horrifically offended if I didn't want to eat at her house."
- 116843189
Poor Home Hygiene
"My first boyfriend’s parents invited me for Thanksgiving. I came over a few days before Christmas and all the same dirty dishes from Thanksgiving were still in the kitchen. I passed on coming over for Christmas dinner."
- MinimalistHomestead
Every Surface Covered
"I went to a friend's house after school, he was going to teach a group of us to play D&D (Dungeons and Dragons)."
"We got there and his house was disgusting. I'm not the neatest person but the carpet hadn't been vacuumed in forever, clothes were all over the place, and dirty dishes were stacked everywhere."
"I tried to be polite even though the place reeked, but at some point, he was like, 'Who wants snacks!'"
"He picked up a bowl that was crusted with stuff, splashed in some water, wiped it with a towel that clearly hadn't been washed that decade, and poured chips into it. Then he asked if we wanted to stay for dinner. We did not."
- KnittinAndB***hin
O Holy Expiration Dates
"When I was a kid, Christmas Eve was always celebrated at Grandma's. I always got sick afterward. Like, Merry Christmas, you're going to puke now."
"It wasn't until I was all grown up and helping her out in the last weeks of her life that I learned why. She did not believe in expiration dates on anything!"
- SundayMorningTrisha
An Immune System to Remember
"My grandma made me a food phobic from a young age. Whether it was ramen with moths floating on top, or chunky milk in my cereal, it just scarred me for life."
"Dinner at her house was always a fight. Not eating her food was not an option. I'm not sure why that was the hill she would always choose to die on, because she was an amazing grandma other than this."
"Expiration dates aren't a thing. If the cheese was moldy, you cut it off... I think living through the great depression and raising kids in poverty changed her mindset on food."
"I mean obviously, she's doing something right because she's 91. She must have the immunity of a superhero."
- tha_stormin_mormon
Neighborly Love
"I used to help an old neighbor out with grocery shopping, I’d drop the bags at her door and she’d give me a check for the amount of groceries. She’d give me homemade cookies once in a while, chocolate chips."
"I didn’t ever eat them because one time I caught sight of her apartment. It was a large studio, a small kitchen, and tv, and a bed/couch. And there were about 20 cans of cat food, half-eaten, and one million flies and small maggots in different stages of growth, dishes with crusty food stuck to them, and a wall of empty beer cans."
"After I saw that, and got a whiff of her apartment, I started helping her with taking garbage out and putting groceries away, cleaning out her fridge, and making sure her cat was healthy."
"A couple of months later, she got the virus, ended up at a rehab facility, and passed within two weeks."
"Some people need help and a little company…"
- SnooPeripherals6557
No Longer Rice
"A girl I was interested in at the time had cats. I came to her house one day to pick her up for a date and he had a large sack of rice open in her pantry with the pantry door open."
"One of the cats hopped out of the sack of rice and she just casually laughed at it like, 'Oh, they are always getting into things.'"
"I came over the following weekend that SAME sack of rice was in the pantry and I could hear one of them tussling around in it again, we stopped dating sometime after that but anytime she offered to cook for me I immediately pivoted to taking her out to eat instead."
- justad**nfool
"Those cats probably used it as litter."
- Anonymanx
"Yeah, that was my fear."
- justad**nfool
Could Have Warned Her
"My mom told me one about going over to her aunt Virginia's house. She, her parents, and her siblings were sat around the kitchen while her aunt cooked, and my mom could not figure out why no one else was having ANY of this incredibly delicious bread that was on the table."
"She was on her third slice when her aunt stepped out to do something else, and my mom was told by her brother to go look in the flour bin."
"It was absolutely filled with miller moth larvae. Aunt Virginia had been losing her eyesight for years."
- smoothiefruit
"It's f**ked of her parents not to warn her not to eat the bread... like, what the f**k, you KNOW the bread isn't safe, so you're not eating it, but you're fine with letting your daughter have three slices?"
- whydontthissitework
Bad to the Point of Malnutrition
"I graduated high school at 6' 10" tall, but weighing only 120 pounds."
"That's not skinny, that's emaciated."
"The food prepared by my bio-mom was so bad that it wasn't providing me with the nutrients or calories I needed to survive. I went off to college where I had to cook for myself (I wasn't allowed to cook at home because my father insisted that "cooking was women's work")."
"Not only did I discover that food didn't have to be burnt to a crisp, flavorless, or boiled until everything was grey. I also discovered that food can be made to taste good, and using things like salt, or pepper, spices, or various condiments can make it taste amazing."
"The "freshman 15" likely saved my life."
"The thing is, I don't think that my biomom was even aware that her food was that disgusting. Whenever we went out for dinner (which was more often than what my father wanted, but he was the one who insisted on going), she did nothing but complain about how the food was undercooked, 'practically raw,' or 'too spicy,' to eat."
"When she went to other people's houses (including her own extended family) she would criticize them for 'doing it wrong' when she watched them cook anything. She would often end up refusing to eat their food because she 'watched them ruin it,' when they cooked it. We never had guests over to eat her cooking. Ever."
- Galaxy_Ranger_Bob
Clean Hands
"We have a chili contest every year at work around Thanksgiving and I've stopped participating in voting for it because I want to know whose I'm eating before taking any. I work with some great people, but I wouldn't eat at or anything from their house. Strangely enough, the guy I absolutely despise I'll gladly eat his chili because he is clean and well kept and I know his house is."
"I also work with a bunch of people who don't wash their hands after using the bathroom in any capacity and we've secretly kept a list so to avoid any potlucks where they take food or to get food before they do."
- SafewordisJohnCandy
We're left with chills after reading these stories.
Where some people might make some mistakes in the kitchen out of just not knowing, like not properly washing rice before cooking it, most of these are just careless mistakes that have disgusting, if not dangerous, results.
What makes us all unique is our passions and the things we love, whether it's singing in the shower, reading books, or listening to specific music artists.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are judged for our various tastes and interests thanks to social media, and it makes us consciously selective about sharing the things we love on the internet.
Curious to hear about people's personal desires under anonymity, Redditor sweet_chick283 asked:
"What do you secretly love that you would never admit to in public?"
These aren't really chores for the following Redditors.
Good Clean Fun
"Mopping, im a janitor and generally hate my work... but damn mopping is so good."
– MrDDog06
"When you have a great rhythm going it is something special. I get the same feeling while I vacuum, but won’t let my wife know I enjoy it."
– Bogus_34
Act Of Unwrinkling
"Ironing clothes. A dozen of them. Can’t explain how it relaxes me. I told one person and they looked at me like I’m crazy."
– eerie_white_glow
"My mum misses the days when dad would be out on a Friday night, my brother out with friends and me upstairs quietly playing PS1. She would pour herself a Bacardi & Coke and do the ironing while watching her TV shows."
"I'm sure she doesn't really miss it now that we've moved out and they've retired but it was her wind-down after a busy working week so I can see how people can find it relaxing."
– xdq
Our solo actions can spark joy.
Big Brother Is Watching
"pretending to be on the Truman show and whenever im in my house i act all inconspicuous so they dont know that i know that they’re watching me."
– Bec_121
"C’mon man, you’re not supposed to let him know. You signed a contract when signing up for live views. I’m reporting you."
– doeswaspsmakehoney
The Multi-Tasker
"Playing video games naked at home while eating cheese."
– thickening_agent
Releasing The Kraken
"I love the feeling when you've eaten good fibre and let out a solid long train log in the toilet. That feeling is heavenly."
– therapoootic
"Even better when it’s a clean wipe and not a poo crayon."
– TheWarmestHugz
Ultimate Comfort
"My (male 41) weekend routine is coming home from work, make hot chocolate, start a fire, dress in a ugly pink nightgown made for old ladies and watch forensic files."
– crazyloomis
Some people are obsessed with collecting things.
So Kawai
"Sanrio stationery stores. All those different multicolor pens, a thousand kinds of erasers, spiral bound notebooks galore... my kids sadly have absolutely no appreciation for this wonderland..."
– HavingNotAttained
It's A Staple
"Office supplies have a weird, special place in my heart ever since I was a kid. They don't even have to be 'cute' necessarily."
"Japan's legendary stationery stores is unironically a reason I want to go."
– _CozyLavender_
Not Caring Anymore
"The older I get the shorter that list gets. Not because I love less things, but because I don't care about hiding it."
– Bi-Beast
"YES!! I'm 53 now. I'm working my first job in public since 2006. Today is Halloween and we're allowed to dress up so I am sitting here waiting to go to work dressed as a VERY bad Wednesday Addams. My bf said I'd 'look stupid' because no one else will probably dress up and I'm like, 'WHO CARES!' My makeup looks horrible and not like I practiced, but I DO NOT CARE! I'm having fun with it anyhow and I don't care if my coworkers dress up or not. I'm bein' ME! :)"
– deanie1970
Honorable mentions start here.
The Savior
"Picking up worms from the street and sidewalks when it rains and moving them into the dirt so they don’t burn in the sun, every time it rains I do this."
– sky_kitten89
Hero Of The Moment
"Yoooo I scoot SO many snails and worms. I work as a tech/mechanic at an automotive shop, I had a peoject car towed to my house the other day and it was covered in snails. I saw them when the tow guy/coworker was unloading and I was like, 'oh! It comes with free snails!' and began moving them. He laughed then realized and said, '... Oh, you're serious. Uh... Okay.'"
"I don't care who knows it. These little things barely can look out for themselves, why shouldn't we if we can take a moment to help? I don't care what happens next, it probably doesn't matter overall but I can help this moment."
– chris14020
Why should some of the hidden desires mentioned above have to be secret?
Redditors opening up about some of these would make them a hit at parties–no shaming.
As a matter of fact, I'll totally be down for a Forensic Files viewing party where we all make hot chocolate, light the fireplace, and cozy up together in our respective pink ugly nightgowns for old ladies.