When visiting a person's home, it's polite not to stare, point, or judge.
We wait for all of that until we leave and then talk about it on Reddit.
The things people leave lying around are astounding.
I often want to scream... "WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE THIS?!?!"
Redditor Dull-Situation3508 wanted to hear about the strange things that have been discovered in other people's homes, so they asked:
"What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen at a friend’s house that they thought was completely normal?"
How Nice
"My friend told me not to use the towels in the bathroom to dry my hands because sometimes her brother wiped his a** with them when they ran out of toilet paper."
- feidle
Disgusted Season 6 GIF by Brooklyn Nine-NineGiphy
Styrofoams
"My great-aunt lived through the Great Depression, so she kept a lot of stuff. Not really hoarding, though, because she used everything up eventually. The one exception was styrofoam takeout cartons from the only restaurant she liked. When she died and we started cleaning out her house, we found decades' worth of these cartons in her cellar. They were all closed, stacked very neatly, floor to ceiling, in dozens of columns, forming a white styrofoam wall that effectively halved the cellar."
"She had cleaned them all carefully, as there were no traces of food in them, though some had been stained by whatever food had once been in them. I was given the job of opening each one to make sure nothing of value had been left in them. After several hours, I confirmed that she had stored almost 2,000 styrofoam boxes and that not a single one had anything in it."
- philosofik
Too Many Things
"When I was growing up my best friend's mom was a hoarder. Not the type that keeps literal trash, but she would buy stuff that she thought she could sell later. There was one time I went over, and she had 2 stoves, a dryer, 3 couches, a couple of stereos, and 3/4s of a pallet of Christmas wrapping paper in the living room."
"She is addicted to garage sales and free posts on Craigslist and Facebook, but never actually gets around to selling the stuff. It's all stuff that is decades out of date too, so nobody really wants it in the first place. In her mind, if she can make a dollar off it then she will buy it and store it."
- boardmonkey
Hello Lord
"A friend up the street had a picture of a guy on his living room wall that was framed. Normal looking guy with a beard sitting in a chair. I asked him once who the man was? An uncle? No, he says, that’s God. I was too young at the time to really think anything more about it. It was not until years later I found out his family had been involved in a cult and the picture of that man was their leader."
- zenben85
Bonkers!!!!!!
"Birds nest in the couch. The family has a giant poorly trained cockatiel who free flies around the home and has made a foot-wide and 8-inch deep nest inside the foam cushion on their couch. Filled with debris like cardboard and bottle caps. They use the couch as if it wasn't there, even sitting on the sliver of cushion that the nest is on. Bonkers!!!!!!"
- AdRemarkable3670
The Loud House
"My best friend when I was in my late teens was Sicilian. His parents were right from there. The first time I went to his house, they were hollering and screaming at each other. I was like do you want me to leave, and he said no, this is just how we talk. Every time I went to his house, someone was hollering."
- Deceiver999
Rotten
"Trailer home. One bedroom had a rotten floor and there was a hole in the corner about 1ft wide which you could see straight to the dirt underneath. During parties, it was used as a urinal pretty frequently."
- PlanetBangBang
Mobile Home Demolition GIF by JC Property ProfessionalsGiphy
American Quirkiness
"We had two German foreign exchange students in my class in high school and we asked them this question. We heard the usual, portion and car sizes. Then they said it’s weird that we have carpet in the bathroom. We were all confused by what she meant but we learned the host family they were staying with had carpet in their bathrooms. I’m not talking about a shower mat. Fully carpeted bathrooms. I can only imagine the smell and musk. It was fun explaining to them that that’s just weird in general, not just a weird American quirk."
- jarabara
Just in Case
"My friend had a room in their basement that was full of all sorts of containers filled with water. Like bottles, jugs, jars, buckets, etc. I asked why they had all that and she shrugged and said 'In case we ever need them.' Never questioned it again."
- suntrovert
"I was raised Mormon, food storage including water was huge in the 80s-2010s. I can name a dozen relatives with a room like that in the basement."
- Humphalumpy
Nibbles
"6 or 7 year old gingerbread house in the hallway. It stands there all year(s) around. The kids were not allowed to touch it, but yeah, with three kids, traces of nibbles were visible."
- kelowana
Better Spaces
"A friend stores her strawberry jam in the bathroom cabinet, alongside other toiletries. When I asked why, she just shrugged. Can't judge her. She's having a shi**y year."
- theblissofchildhood
"It's funny how random places for things happen. I keep my vegetable oil under the sink by the soap and whatnot because that's where my mom kept it."
"Even crazier, everyone just knew that the stash of chapstick was in the front left pocket of my dad's suit jacket. If you needed chapstick, you went to my dad's closet and grabbed some out of the suit jacket."
- Veritas3333
A List of Things
"Not friend's houses, but I have seen the following things in people's homes: a shop mannequin dressed in lacy lingerie on the bed, a bathtub full of electrical items like toasters and radios, a toy doll hanging from a ceiling light fitting, mushrooms growing out of the carpet, a weed farm (3 weed farms, actually), about 20 years worth of newspapers stacked up in the bathroom. Oh, and one where the guy had NOTHING in the front room apart from one chair, a TV, and swords displayed on the walls."
- Lily_Hylidae
SILENCE!!!!!
"Not something I saw but what I didn't hear when I stayed over at a friend's house for the first time when I was 7 years old: nothing. At night it was disturbingly quiet. No creaks, beeps, appliances, AC, running water, pipe noises, etc., They were far enough away from other houses and streets where you wouldn't hear other cars or neighbors. What was weirdest though was the lack of any ambient nature sounds outside. SILENCE NEVER FELT SO LOUD!!"
- LivedLostLivalil
Strict Snacking
"Locks on the kitchen cabinets and the refrigerator. Three meals a day, no snacking, the family all sat down and ate together. Friends were sent home at mealtime."
- United_Pipe_9457
Dog Refrigerator GIFGiphy
This is why people's houses freak me out. I'd rather stay home or meet out in person.
What in the world are people doing at home?
I mean, my house isn't perfect, so I'm trying not to judge.
If I died, there are a few "interesting" items that may lead to questions.
So maybe we all need to do some sprucing and purging.
Do you have any experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.