People Confess Which Things They've Always Done They Didn't Realize Were Gross
Reddit user one-droplet asked: 'What have you always done, but later found out was gross?'
There's this amazing quote by Maya Angelou that we can all put into practice: "Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better."
This can be applied to anything in life, from learning more about a subject that we're passionate about, to practicing better time management skills, to being a better friend.
But there are some things that we may not even realize we need to do better... until we suddenly know better.
Cringing in anticipation, Redditor one-droplet asked:
"What have you always done, but later found out was gross?"
The Best Ice
"When I was like five or six years old I would love going to the grocery store with my mom because the vegetable and fruit and meat tables always had the best ice to chew on..."
- campio_s_a
"I work in a restaurant, and I try to grab a cup to get the ice before they use it for raw oysters and shrimp cocktails. It really is the best ice."
- AustinRiversDaGod
Toilet Paper Use
"As an Asian, I was always taught growing up to throw used toilet paper in the trash bin. It wasn't until I went on a school trip to Italy and the chaperone mentioned to everyone, 'The plumbing system here isn't as good as the USA so you guys are just gonna have to throw it in the trash bin,' and everyone went, 'Ew.'"
"That's when I learned that it was gross to throw toilet paper in the trash bin since the issue was you're basically having shit bits sitting around in a bin."
- stigma_numgus
Toothbrush Bristles
"All my life, I wiped my toothbrush on the hand towel to dry it up until my sister asked what the f**k I was doing."
- Sark_Doul
"My sister used to scrub the bristles on the faucet where the water came out when she was done brushing her teeth. I guess to dry it off. I still cringe thinking about it."
- Suspicious-Craft4980
That's Not Clay
"As a child, I would dig up bits of clay from the local sandbox. It wasn’t as good as Play-Doh, so I would cast it aside and continue digging."
"Maybe I didn’t have a very good sense of smell at that age, because I was well into adulthood before I realized it was probably cat s**t."
- Blue_Moon_Rabbit
Dirty Showers
"I showered in a dirty tub. Once I discovered how gross it really was, my hoarder mother didn’t like it when I cleaned the bathroom, so I just lived with it til I was able to get a place."
- TrustIsOverrated
"My hoarder mom was like this."
- Best_Eggplant_9259
"When I tried to wash the nicotine off the walls in my bedroom, my hoarder parents were not happy."
- obviouslyanni
Fresh Towels
"I waited until a towel smelled weird to swap it out."
- DrippyFlames
"Look, the towel forgets everything before the next shower."
- gljivicad
Self-Service Assorted Candies
"I used to really like those self-service lollies/candy buckets with the scoops. They were in most big box stores in Australia, like Kmart, Target, Big W. So much fun mixing and matching."
"But then one day I started working at Target. Every single day I caught old people and kids with their hands directly inside grabbing them out and munching down all slobbery-like. That turned me off forever."
"Though not too long after they started disappearing from businesses so obviously someone got the unsanitary message."
- blahblahrasputan
Not Flushable
"I flushed my tampons my whole life until I was about 30. No one had taught me they weren’t flushable. I stupidly thought they were like toilet paper."
"One expensive and embarrassing plumbing problem later, I never did it again."
- Ew_fine
Dental Habits
"Not brushing my teeth when I wake up. I would only brush my teeth after breakfast, and I would rarely eat breakfast."
"So most days I would only brush my teeth at night. I figured, 'Well, I brushed last night and haven’t eaten anything since, so why should I brush again?'"
" Then I learned about all the bacteria that feed on the tiny bits of food left in your teeth and they literally expel gas and feces in your mouth as they consume it. And this is what causes awful morning breath."
"So I have this mental image of bacteria poop and farts coating my mouth and have brushed every morning since regardless of eating breakfast or not."
- scatteredwardrobe
"Brush at night to keep your teeth, and brush in the morning to keep your friends."
- coykoi314
Not Just Yellow Snow
"Eating snow. Just take the same handful of snow you might see a kid stuff in their mouth and let it melt in a glass. Bet you wouldn’t willingly drink it!"
- Affectionate_Cloud86
Don't Visit Everyone's House
"I sit on my couch butt naked when I’m alone watching TV at night. I mean I’m relatively clean but I feel sorry for anyone else that sits there."
- Rich-Abbreviations25
Letting the Hair Fall Where It May
"I'm suffering from hair loss at the moment (51 Female) and I'm often absent-mindedly raking a hand through my long hair, glancing at what comes out and then dropping the strands on the floor."
"Just read on another sub that that's pretty disgusting to other people. In my defense, I work exclusively from home in my own small office and would never do it in public, but even so, maybe my husband thinks I'm gross."
- RadioDorothy
Shoes Indoors
"Wearing shoes inside. My family was not a shoes off family and they always wore outside shoes inside."
"I remember a few friends' homes were strict shoes-off homes, but I thought that was the minority."
"I was about 27 years old before I realized it was disgusting and people were definitely judging my etiquette."
- MyDogAteYourPancakes
Double-Dipping
"Double-dipping snacks. Pretty logical but only found out recently that’s very bad etiquette."
- AggravatingDriver559
"Double-dipping is only acceptable if you’re not sharing the dip with anyone."
- froderenfelemus
Fair Lessons
"Some things I've learned:"
"Wash my bedsheets every week, including bed, pillows, and covers."
"Only use the same bath towel twice before washing it."
"Use a new toothbrush head every month."
"Always wash my hands coming back from a store or public transit."
"And NEVER EVER go into a resort pool with a swim-in bar."
- freddg_mtl
This conversation was so cringe-worthy and left us wanting a shower in the worst way.
At least for most of these Redditors, now that they knew these are gross habits, they've chosen to do something better.
Dating can be pretty fun, but like anything else, there are going to be some bad or weird dates.
But sometimes the person we think we're really into will do something so repulsive, we know instantly that relationship is over.
Redditor th3dankmemer asked:
"Redditors, have you ever gotten the 'ick' from a potential partner or love interest that instantly killed your attraction to them?"
"If so, what happened?"
Uninterested in Them
"We were talking about our interests, and after I listened to him blab about his ''lawn-scaping business,' I went to talk about my interests. He interrupted me to say, 'Wow, you really have nothing interesting to say, do you?'"
- youraveragebrat
Interrogating Them
"I went out with a guy who would not stop grilling me, and I couldn't get him to actually answer any questions about himself."
"I finally just said, 'Look, it's cool that you're so interested in getting to know me, but I'd like to hear about you too. What do you do in your free time?'"
"He sat there and stared for a bit then started listing off TV shows, asking if I'd seen them."
"I had not."
"Finally, he got to 'The Wire,' which I'd seen a few episodes of, and because that was the only one I had any experience with, apparently that meant I needed a 20-minute monologue about what the show was about. I literally checked the clock when he started, and it was a full 20 minutes."
"When he finally petered out, we just sat in silence for a second before he stood up, shook my hand, and left without another word."
- TheDogWhistle
No Personal Space
"He grabbed me by the face on the first date, 'stroked' under my eyes, and said, 'You need to take better care of yourself.'"
"Sir, I’m a divorced 37-year-old woman with kids, and those under-eye circles were passed down from my grandmother. They’re family heirlooms."
"And get your hands off my face. We just met, and this is not a Nicholas Sparks movie."
- IgnoreThisIAmStupid
Victimizing Themselves
"Literally every single problem she had was someone else’s fault. Even when there was proof it was her fault, she would argue nonstop that it was someone else’s."
"She got in a car wreck and called insurance over and over again to tell them that it was the other person’s fault. They checked the computer in her car because it saved the speed she was going right before the wreck. It told them everything they needed to know, and she STILL denied it."
- ctrlALTdeleted716
Bully Behavior
"He bullied someone in front of me. Instant disgust."
- noteveni
Absolute Nose Blindness
"I had a guy once whose car smelled so bad, I had to try not to throw up while sticking my head out the window."
"He couldn't smell it. I thought I was going to die."
"It turns out he forgot about a double cheeseburger in the back of his car for over two weeks in the hot sun."
"I don't know what bothered me more. The smell or the fact that it didn't bother him."
- yuyufan43
Mom the Third Wheel
"I found out the reason he rented the house next door to his parents was so his mom would make his meals, wash his clothes, etc. He had the audacity to say, 'Let me call my mom,' when I mentioned I was a little hungry."
"She was a big enabler, and she was part of the reason I ended the relationship. I don’t need to be coached on 'how to please her baby boy.'"
- SpeechDistinct8793
The Two-Faced Partner
"She was 'best friends' with another girl who she constantly spoke s**t about when said friend wasn't around."
- 11_Jay
"Ooh, I had an ex who did that."
"She got SUPER MAD at her 'best friend' for wanting to go out for sushi a week before her birthday when she wanted sushi! It was totally on purpose just to steal her idea of getting sushi. Because you obviously couldn't go out and get sushi two weekends in a row."
"A couple of weeks later, they were best friends again. A couple of weeks after that, I got ghosted and realized I was better off."
- mdp300
Imaginary Friends
"In college, I was seeing a girl who lived in a student residence with me but on another floor. She would always talk about how another guy, Tom, on her floor was obsessed with her and would show me texts between them. She said she only talked to him because he’s harmless and that they’re friends. I never met him."
"After a week, her ex-friend from high school pulled me aside and told me not to trust her. She said that the girl I was seeing is a notorious liar and that Tom doesn’t exist. That she added her own number in her phone as 'Tom,' would text herself, and then delete the sent messages."
"The only reason her ex-friend knew is that she saw the text message exchange happen in the reflection of a mirror when they were in the same room."
"I was close with the front desk and asked if they could look up the names from that floor. They said yes, and told me that there was no guy named Tom on her floor. I noped out of that real quick."
- GetInMyBellyButton
Reciprocation Matters
"My brief girlfriend bought me some hair care products before she came over because it was right by her house. In return, I said I would go grocery shopping and make her a nice dinner. I thought this to be an even exchange."
"That night I found her looking through my trash for the receipt for the groceries to make sure that the 30 dollars she spent on me was equal to the amount I spent on her dinner."
"Just to clarity, I saw her parents do this to her. It was her upbringing. She did this in every aspect of her life which gave me the ick but she did not have very good role models."
- lookssharp
Conspiracy Theorist
"I dated a guy who seemed chill but kept talking about social media and how people and his exes were scheming against him."
"I believed him at first until it got to a point where he thought things like a photo someone put up was an indicator that they were ‘getting him back’ when these people were literally just doing normal things and posting normal stuff."
"I think he was schizophrenic, but it was really unsettling. Months later, he rang me out of the blue to ask me about a link between his ex, myself, and a friend. The link was butterflies, and because of this link, he thought we were conspiring against him."
- BangGrenade
Constant Assumptions
"He kept making assumptions about me on the first date, like 'I suppose someone like you...' or, 'A girl like you wouldn't understand...'"
"I am literally right here, ask me. Don't tell me what my life is or is like."
"Anyway, eventually I got up and left. They messaged me and asked what my problem was, so I wrote back something to the effect of, 'A boy like you wouldn't understand even if I told you.'"
- Kixion
Faking Seizures
"I realized he was faking seizures our entire relationship to get out of helping me do chores or cook meals."
"We dated for less than a year. I found out from his friends and family he never had a seizure in front of them."
"I came home one night after working a double, and I asked him to please try to make dinner."
"The next night, I found him asleep and woke him up to let him know I was home and where was dinner?"
"He said he had a seizure. This caused an argument where he admitted he faked it. He said his seizures were caused by flashing lights."
"I took him to countless doctors and no one could replicate what I saw all the time. After he admitted it, it finally clicked. He’d been faking it the whole time."
- helloyellowfellow1
Weirder and Weirder
"I went on a date with a guy I met at a party. He made me prove that I liked 'Lord of the Rings' by answering who said what when he quoted someone."
"He pulled out a notebook of really poorly drawn anime characters and asked me if he could draw me."
"He was a lot shorter than me and asked if it bothered me. I said no, then he said, 'Good, I like Amazonian goddesses.'"
"He kept trying to put his jewelry onto me despite my protests. He asked what I wanted to order for food, and then ignored me and ordered me something else and got frustrated I didn't eat it all."
"He referenced being arrested, made me guess what for, and when I refused to guess for not knowing him well enough, he said GBH (Grievous Bodily Harm)."
"He was a trainee doctor and asked if I'd ever broken any bones. When I replied yes, he said that he was going to look up my X-rays."
"And the icing on the cake... When I wanted to leave, he got my knee-high boots, slipped them onto my feet, zipped them up, and said, 'You should always be treated like a goddess... My Morticia Addams.'"
"ALL ONE DATE."
- choccymilkaddict
Saving Marriages One Story at a Time
"This thread is saving my marriage."
- letsjakeonit
"No kidding!"
"My parents love to say that after going out in public, there’s no one else they’d rather go home with."
- Tup1000
We've all met some unusual people in our lives, but it's especially strange when we're dating them and make unexpected discoveries about them.
At least a relationship doesn't have to last forever unless it's meant to.
The Most Disgusting Things People Have Seen Someone Do Without Any Shame
Most people know what behavior is socially acceptable and what is not. While society shouldn’t force us to conform or dictate what we can and cannot do, some social norms help us determine what may or may not be appropriate for a certain setting.
For example, there is no reason for a kid to grab someone’s lunch box, throw up in it, and unapologetically hand it back to the owner. I only wish I was kidding.
The thing is, disgusting things like this happen a lot, and a lot of the time, the person who is doing the disgusting thing is not embarrassed or ashamed.
Redditors have seen this happen first hand and are only too eager to share their experiences.
It all started when Redditor Killmunger asked:
“What’s the most disgusting thing you’ve seen someone do with no shame?”
Refund Please!
"Working customer service at Walmart I once had a customer take off her very worn, very smelly shoes and put them on the counter looking for a refund because the insole in one of them was coming apart. It was a brand we hadn't even carried in four or five years."
– stephers85
"And I bet they refunded her too. My manager refunded a sh*t-filled blanket someone’s kids had destroyed that we didn’t even sell once."
– evillalafell
Too Hard To Find The Bathroom
"A guy walked into the restaurant I was working in, tried to open the door going to the store room and realized it wasn't a bathroom. He then proceeded to pee on the door right in front of people eating at the table near it then walked out."
– bevlewisfan123
"Not me but my manager, walked into the "warehouse " at work and someone dropped a duce by the emergency exit."
"We had signs on the door in English and Spanish that it was not the bathroom."
"We has public restrooms and people would routinely smear feeces in the walls. Who ? And why at dollar tree?"
– notyourmama827
Kids Will Be...Gross?
"I was on a commuter train that broke down for about 20 minutes. Sitting across from me were a brother and sister, probably about 12-13. Their dad was next to me. The kids started licking each other's faces, then picking each other's noses. Dad was totally unfazed. Yeah. Had to find another seat before I threw up."
– SaintElmo54
Sick From Money
"Saw a customer at work sneeze into his hand full of change and give it to my coworker. I didn’t have time to warn her tho"
– amywhorlow
"Worked at a burger place, we had some right dirty regulars, and twice they paid their bill in coins. Just dumped these dirt-covered filthy moist coins into my hand."
"They would pick up old receipts from outside then come in complaining something missing from their order too."
– Mardanis
Needed A Fix
"Ok so once I had a patient who was in the ICU after suffering a brain bleed (subarachnoid hemorrhage) from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. She was a BIG smoker and obviously couldn’t smoke in the hospital. She was also a big drinker, couldn’t drink in the hospital, and the location of her aneurysm and therefore most of her brain dysfunction was in the frontal lobe area. Frontal lobe injury causes disinhibition and people just generally act totally nutty. So all these things combined made her totally delirious and wild."
"Anyway her brain bleed had caused increased pressure in her brain, so she had a small drain tube in place that went through her skull into the inside of her brain to both monitor the pressure and allow cerebrospinal fluid to drain out to help offload the pressure while the swelling from the bleed was going down."
"One day we were called to the room by her nurse, who found that she had somehow CHEWED HER VENTRICULAR DRAIN in half and was attempting to smoke it. She had the tube draining from her brain INSIDE HER MOUTH. It was vile. Vile."
"This same woman also somehow managed to get out of her bed in the ICU and sh*t in the trash can."
"The brain is a mysterious thing."
– Sp4ceh0rse
Scratching His Skin Off
"I work with this guy who has a skin condition, not sure what it is I don’t think even he knows tbh because he’s the type of person who will not go to the doctors. Anyway fair enough he’s got a skin condition where it’s flakey."
"BUT he scratches and he scratches and he scratches and his skin goes everywhere and he does not care. He’s a delivery driver for the store I work at and the other drivers will come in furious because the dash board, the seats, the floor everything is snowed in with flakes of skin."
"It’s got to the point my manager has had to take him aside and say you need to clean up after yourself. And has given him a handheld vacuum which he still does not use"
– cherryprincessy
Middle Schoolers...
"Kid in middle school ran and dove into super long trough urinal, slid down it baseball style the whole length."
– GhostOfaFormerSelf
"That's almost as impressive as it is disgusting."
– WookieeSlayer97
Not Something I'd Want To See
"I watched a middle-aged man take his shoes off and clip his toenails onto the floor in a waiting area at Logan airport. From the phone conversation he was having at the same time, it appeared that he was a mental health professional."
– auntieboing
Apparently, Anything Can Be Snack
"Pick little cotton balls or whatever it was from under their sweaty arm cast and eat it."
– postedUpOnTheBlock
"The devil's cotton candy."
– I_Fart_Cum_Bubbles
"Omg that shocked me. I never would have guessed the end of that sentence. My jaw literally dropped."
– penelopepusskat
Should've Been A Firable Offense!
"I was the only woman in an otherwise all male office, and we had one bathroom. We all took turns cleaning it, and I was fine doing my part."
Until we figured out that the reason it always smelled bad was because a 60 year old man was urinating on the floor (there was a drain) and not the toilet."
My boss said something to him, and he shrugged and said “my wife cleans up after me at home.” He was told his wife doesn’t work here, but it didn’t matter and he kept doing it."
From then on out I refused to use that bathroom, and started going down the street to the gas station every time I needed to go. Since I wasn’t using it, I didn’t have to help keep it clean and there was no f**king way I was going to help keep that bathroom clean when a grown a** man was literally peeing on the floor."
– avotoastwhisperer
Simply Wasteful
"At a music festival, walking past a garbage bin, my buddy walks up to it to throw something in. He looks inside, bends in, comes out again holding half a kebab and goes 'look at what people throw away!' and proceeds to eat it.
E, you f**king legend."
– ilikedmatrixiv
Huh?!
"MIL uses her own hair to floss… while at the dinner table"
– maiatherm1205
"This is simultaneously really disgusting and also a really good use of available resources."
– I_Upvote_Goldens
What Happens In Vegas
"First that comes to mind, working at a casino, there was this one lady who smoked SO much, she complained the servers weren't bringing her new ash trays often enough, started ashing on her tongue. One time I watched her put out a cigarette butt on the machine, then f**king eat it"
– vonkeswick
Not That Kind Of Cake
"I drinking partner I once knew was very much a "shock and awe" kinda fella. He would come out with the most insane stuff but was incredibly funny and intelligent. My opinion changed on the last adjective when he went to the men's room and came out with one of the yellow urinal cakes. He put it in his mouth and ate it. to this day I don't know how he did it, but it was just really weird and disgusting."
– climber80hd
Yeah, that's enough for me too!