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Over the course of thousands of years, our hygiene habits have improved to suppress outbreaks of diseases and protect our health. However, a handful of them somehow survived and have become quite the norm, despite being pretty gross.
People in the AskReddit community were discussing such examples in hopes that others would give them up. Scroll down to find them, and be sure to let us know if you agree or disagree with them!
While you're at it, don't forget to check out a conversation with redditor, who started this interesting discussion in the first place.
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#1
Billionaires. You don't get that much money without seriously ruining some lives.
The redditor who started this thread was inspired to spark this discussion online when their partner noticed something gross they did by accident.
"I sneezed and wiped some snot on my sleeve, my wife found it disgusting and I thought it was normal," they share.
Fortunately, the Reddit user tells us that this was the only instance that their habits were found to be gross by others.
When it comes to their own tolerance for gross things, they say that not much phases them. "I’m pretty hard to gross out."
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#2
People monetizing their kids on YouTube.
#3
Spitting. I feel physically ill when I witness someone hawking and spitting in public or see spit sitting on the pavement.
No one is safe from other people’s questionable habits, especially not in the office. Online printing company Instantprint surveyed 1,000 UK employees to uncover the hidden truth about coworkers grossest habits.
It was found that more than 5% of Brits admitted to cleaning their computers or work areas yearly or never at all. Meanwhile, 1 in 10 employees never wash their mug, water bottle, or glassware when enjoying a beverage of their choice. Either they have an office cleaner who does it for them, or they feel content being surrounded by some serious crumbs, dust, stains, and bacteria.
#4
Not washing your hands after going to the bathroom. Nasty.
Cynthia Christie 1 month ago
For those who need to hear this, rinsing your fingers quickly doesn't count.
Only 16% of respondents revealed that they wash their hands regularly at the office, and a whopping 19% confessed to rinsing them solely after using the bathroom. It’s worth being cautious about who you shake hands with!
When it comes to other gross workplace habits, almost a quarter admitted to taking off their shoes at work. And over 30% of Brits confessed to eating something from the back of the fridge that was way past its use-by date.
#7
Employers paying new hires more than tenured employees. Having drastically different pay rates for people with similar credentials doing the same job.
Biljana Malesevic 1 month ago
This is happening to me all the time. I am senior who is paid less then juniors because I have been longest in the company. Get that logic!
#8
5 foot long eyelashes.
Biljana Malesevic 1 month ago
Not gross. But super-long nails on the other hand... How do you even keep them clean?
#9
Unkept beards.
It seems that not everyone learned the pandemic lesson, as 39% of employees said that they would still come to work if they had a cold. However, it’s not all that bad, with almost 60% of respondents having tissues on hand, 41% always having sanitizer, and 30% bringing deodorant or perfume to work.
#11
Maybe not “normal” but I am repulsed by the smell created by clothing not properly drying. The smell is on clothing that sat in the washer machine too long. Or dish towels and bathroom towels that dried without being spread out.
I smell it on people from down the isle in stores. And don’t get me started on drying my hands in someone’s bathroom and finding out the smell is lingering on my hands now.
#14
Spitting, coughing without covering mouth. I have multiple sclerosis. Get sick really easy.
#15
When someone else 'washes' my dishes for me and I drink from a 'clean' glass and it smells of rotting food and I look at my sponge and it's covered in food because someone thought that smearing food around my dishes with a sponge somehow made them clean you're all fired I never want to see you again.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 month ago
I use one of those net-ball-scrubby things (I think they're made of nylon?) and I literally wash it after I finish washing the dishes with it XD It gets a regular soak in vinegar as well, and I switch to a new one every other week. I cannot STAND when I look at a scrubby or a sponge and SEE bits of food stuck to it. I use a regular scrubbing-side dish sponge for washing my pets' dishes and bowls, but that bad boy ALSO gets washed and rinsed after use, and I microwave it to sanitize it every day. And I replace it every other week. I can handle a lot of gross things (I have four pets, and they produce a variety of bodily substances from every orifice) but food residue on sponges/dish-cleaning tools just squicks me out. I'm with OP on this one.
#16
On colder days when my dad walks the dog he’ll sometimes hold the dog poop bag in his hands to warm his hands.
#17
Smacking gum. I hate it. And loud chewing/swallowing noises.
Biljana Malesevic 1 month ago
God, I hate that sound. When I am in the bus and someone is puckering the damn gum, I just want to yell them to stop! I have misophonia so I can't stand that sound.
#18
Not washing hands before a meal. You have been in filth and you are going to touch your food with those hands? Yuk.
The Other Guest 1 month ago
Wash before eating, wash before cooking, wash during cooking if you've handled raw meat (especially pork or poultry) with your bare hands.
#20
Washing dishes in a tub of soapy water and not rinsing off the soap suds. Or not scrubbing the outsides of pots and pans as well. Makes me want to vomit. I'd rather not taste stale soap and bacteria in my cup of tea or food thanks. I can always tell as well.
Holy s**t thanks for the 1000 upvotes. I've never had a post get this many upvotes.
#21
Leaving the toilet seat up when flushing.
#22
Talking while eating. You get to see the inside of their mouth, and its disgusting
Just eat and swallow the food and then talk 🙄.
#23
Spitting, especially loogies. I literally almost throw up when I see someone doing it.
#24
Childbirth.
We're all here because of it, and it's currently my day job to catch a baby or two per day, but goddamn is it like watching a woman's genitals go through Vietnam each time.
#25
Licking their fingers to turn a page. Turns my stomach!
Alexis Pandas 1 month ago
I once stopped by a combined bakery/butcher shop (should have been a red flag) in a rural area on my way to a gig. There was an elderly lady in queue before me who asked the clerk about a larger order of meat. The clerk took out her ledger and licked all over her middle three fingers before turning every single page. She didn't find the order immediately so there was a lot of licking and flipping. Used that hand to take and bag my croissant. I was too perplexed to react properly, paid, and left. Didn't have breakfast that day.
#26
Wearing those big a*s engagement rings and never properly cleaning them. Especially in a hospital, nobody should be wearing anything below the elbow for good hand hygiene. I can’t imagine how many germs live between all those diamonds that now are spreading to my patients. Just take it all off, leave them at home!
#27
I see so many videos of people letting their cats walk all over their kitchen counters and I want to vomit. Do these people think their cats are washing their paws and butts after they use the litter box?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 month ago
How do you propose I STOP my cats from getting onto the countertops? XD I gave up on that decades - and three cats - ago (and I tried EVERY method.) Now I just, you know, WIPE OFF THE COUNTERTOPS before I cook/prep. And it's not like I'm putting food directly ON the countertop itself anyway.
#28
Blowing out birthday cake candles. Here let me blow my spit all over this cake, then cut it up and expect everyone to eat it.
Instead we should do a sheet cake for all and a cupcake with candle for the blower.
Mrs Irish Mom 1 month ago
Never thought about this one before, was just at aunts birthday last week and she took her teeth out to blow properly 🤢
#29
Perhaps not gross, but I am repulsed by holding chalk and writing on a chalkboard. The touch, the feel, the sound, everything.
#30
Not gross but the sound of a dentist drill. Makes me shiver at the sound.
What do you think ?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 month ago
My ex would use the same drinking glass for DAYS AT A TIME. And he has oily skin texture, so the glass would get literally BLEARY with skin oils on the first day. It would go from clear-glass to literally opaque with skin-oil. And don't even get me started on how NASTY the glass's rim looked from his lips touching it over and over. I cannot FATHOM how he could use that glass day after day without horking the second he went to drink from it. I'd sometimes grab the glass surreptitiously and I'd wash it. I sometimes gagged just from TOUCHING the glass while washing it. And - for years his Brita pitcher used to look NASTY filthy (skin oils, food smudges, grease, dust, dirt, etc.) - I would call it his "cholera pitcher" and he'd get all pissed off. When we lived together I would wash the pitcher regularly. He also thought I was overreacting for wanting to wash the pets' bowls every day so they could eat from CLEAN BOWLS. I am now free, after 23 years of skin-oils XD
LillieMean 1 month ago
Touch screens, especially at self-service checkouts. You know how many times I've witnessed someone cough or sneeze at the screen. In the cold season, I wear touch screen gloves when using it and at other times I use hand sanitizer. Disgusting surfaces for bacteria frolicked on.
Icomefromthelanddownunder 1 month ago
I hate seeing someone pick up their kids dummy (pacifier) off the floor & put it in their mouth to clean it 🤢 pin it to their clothes ffs
The Other Guest 1 month ago
I know someone who, if she was drinking a glass of water, would rinse off the dropped pacifier in it and then continue to drink the water. And yes, she also did the "clean it with my mouth" method on the basis that "it's easier to get the fluff out of my mouth than theirs." So, so gross.
Load More Replies... LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 month ago
My ex would use the same drinking glass for DAYS AT A TIME. And he has oily skin texture, so the glass would get literally BLEARY with skin oils on the first day. It would go from clear-glass to literally opaque with skin-oil. And don't even get me started on how NASTY the glass's rim looked from his lips touching it over and over. I cannot FATHOM how he could use that glass day after day without horking the second he went to drink from it. I'd sometimes grab the glass surreptitiously and I'd wash it. I sometimes gagged just from TOUCHING the glass while washing it. And - for years his Brita pitcher used to look NASTY filthy (skin oils, food smudges, grease, dust, dirt, etc.) - I would call it his "cholera pitcher" and he'd get all pissed off. When we lived together I would wash the pitcher regularly. He also thought I was overreacting for wanting to wash the pets' bowls every day so they could eat from CLEAN BOWLS. I am now free, after 23 years of skin-oils XD
LillieMean 1 month ago
Touch screens, especially at self-service checkouts. You know how many times I've witnessed someone cough or sneeze at the screen. In the cold season, I wear touch screen gloves when using it and at other times I use hand sanitizer. Disgusting surfaces for bacteria frolicked on.
Icomefromthelanddownunder 1 month ago
I hate seeing someone pick up their kids dummy (pacifier) off the floor & put it in their mouth to clean it 🤢 pin it to their clothes ffs
The Other Guest 1 month ago
I know someone who, if she was drinking a glass of water, would rinse off the dropped pacifier in it and then continue to drink the water. And yes, she also did the "clean it with my mouth" method on the basis that "it's easier to get the fluff out of my mouth than theirs." So, so gross.
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