People say “My body is a temple,” but I have another kind of saying. My house is actually my temple and I rarely want anyone disturbing my peace. It's my place to rest and recharge. It's like Whoopi Goldberg said: "I don't want somebody in my house."
Granted, she meant that's why she doesn't want to get married, but doesn't that also work for having guests over? I guess that's why this post on Ask Reddit hit so close to home for me. The Redditor sodamnsleepy asked the Internet about the weirdest things their houseguests did, and the people did not disappoint. Check out the spiciest answers below.
#1
I had an extra tix for a chef hosted pop-up dinner. Prix fixe menu, cocktails and wine included. Called a buddy that’s a chef knowing he’d appreciate it. We started hitting the drinks hard, but he was lapping me and he got VERY drunk. We went to two bars after, neither would serve his drunk a*s so I said let’s walk to my house, sleep it off. Had a few at the house and I went to bed. Woke in the morning and he was gone but left a kind note on the counter. Found another note in the coffee maker, and another in the cups. We were finding notes of love and gratitude hidden all over the house for weeks after. Its was really sweet.
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332points
Bored Panda got in touch with the creator of the viral thread. The user sodamnsleepy was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. The Redditor says that personal experiences with guests inspired them to post the question.
"I guess I asked the question because some friends/guests I had did a few weird things but nothing close to the stuff people commented," they admitted.
The author of the post also says they luckily haven't experienced anything similar to the things people describe in the thread. They call their experiences with rude guests "kind of tame compared to those in the thread."
#2
God this is probably going to get buried, but at some point before I was born my dad ran a recording studio type thing in our basement. Think an old sound board, mics, instruments, that sort of stuff all set up. My parents were away and his friend stayed at the house to look after things and feed our dog. She was a pretty crazy, then maybe 4 year old, German Shepard. When my parents got back, nothing was out of place or anything. But months later my dad was on the computer in the basement and found a fully composed song that his friend recorded in his absence. Full singing/instrumentals, about the dog. I was so young when I heard the song so I really don’t remember any more details than that, and the file itself has been lost to time, but it’s still a pretty iconic story.
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221points
#3
invited work friend over after our shift on a friday. she asks if her new boyfriend can come too. sure, no problem. order sushi and crack some beers. He seems like a pretty normal guy, but keeps dripping all the soy sauce on the table. My gf offers him a napkin several times. doesnt want it. "hey man, you keep spilling, why don't you take the napkin." he takes the soy sauce container and pours it on the floor. "Wtf man you have to clean that up." Takes the chop sticks (A gift from my GF's mom... not the s****y wooden ones) and breaks them. GF starts crying. Guy laughs and says they were probably made in china. Obviously I kicked him out and found out a month later that he cheated on my friend and sent her a video of the event. Some people really do not deserve air
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202points
We asked the Redditor how they reacted to the strange behaviors of their houseguests. "Most times I just sat there, staring," the netizen admits. They describe themselves as a non-confrontational person, so the times some friends acted inappropriately, they just let it slide.
sodamnsleepy also didn't expect the post to get the kind of attention that it did. "Usually my posts get 50 upvotes and a few comments, then they die." The degree of chaos in some people's stories also surprised the author. "I didn't imagine such wild stories," the Redditor says, not hiding their bewilderment.
#4
Guy was friends with my now ex husband, flew into town to interview for a job. I got stuck picking him up from the airport because ex husband was working nights. He insisted we had to stop at Sonic on the way home, because he would flunk the interview the next day without a drink from there. We get home and I show him to the guest room and guest bathroom, he tells me he needs to watch some TV to wind down before bed. I hand him the remote to the one in the living room and go to bed. I wake up several times throughout the night due to the surround sound, he was watching war movies with the volume all the way up. I get up in the morning and walk into my living room…that has been completely rearranged. He moved every piece of my living room furniture to a new spot. When he comes out of the guest room to take a shower and get ready for his interview, he tells me the room “flows so much better now” and that he watches a lot of HGTV so he knows how to decorate. Then just before he leaves for the interview in an Uber, he tells me he really doesn’t like the shampoo in my guest bath and I should get something better for visitors. I have no clue what he’s going on about, so I look after he leaves: flea and tick shampoo was the only bottle in the shower, left after my dogs last bath and clearly marked as such. He used flea and tick shampoo and then got mad at me for it.
He bombed his interview, my ex husband took him back to the airport and I never saw the guy again. Guess the Sonic didn’t work after all.
196points
#5
Invited a school friend over (we were both 8). When my friend left, my mom asked if I had used the decorative towels to wipe my butt.
My friend had used the bathroom, bypassed the full roll of TP, the spare rolls in a basket on the floor, the towel to dry your hands, and instead got down a basket that had soaps shaped like swans sitting on rolled up hand towels..... and used the rolled up towel to wipe poo off their bum - it was a lot.... then put the towel back, placed the swan soaps back around the towel, and put the basket back on the shelf.
The towels were light pink. My friend was never invited over again.
176points
#6
I was getting ready to leave for work (my husband had already left for work) and my husbands friend who spent the night was still there. We don’t really like people being in our house when we aren’t there; not that we are distrustful it’s just weird to us if someone is gonna be at our house for 8+ hours doing whatever. So I grab my car keys and say “alright. Time for us to leave!” And he just says “ok bye.” And starts rolling a joint with my stash. I wait till he’s done, take it from him and say “thanks.” While putting it behind my ear and holding the door open for him. “After you, see you later.” Apparently this was offensive enough that he called my husband to tell on me. My husband obviously was like “uh. My guy. She bought that with her own money and told you to leave. So. Leave?”
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171points
Many of us wouldn't know how to react politely when a guest helps themselves to a snack uninvited or commits another kind of faux pas. Etiquette experts agree on one thing: don't be rash, passive-aggressive or rude yourself. Below you will find some advice on how to react to weird behavior exhibited by your guests.
#7
We had an apartment warming party after being away for about a year. Some really close friends had stopped by a mutual old coworker’s house on the way and he basically invited himself but I didn’t really mind. He pounded some of our expensive sipping mezcal from Oaxaca and proceeded to ask me why I was wearing a bandana - “what are you, gay?” - and then asked a Black friend of ours how she felt about being the only Black person (currently) at the party. But not before asking her white husband if it was okay to ask her something.
None of us have spoken to this man since.
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162points
#8
Let their child get red sauce all over my furniture, then turn and tell me that #1 I shouldn't have had red sauce pasta as an option for dinner at my home, and #2 they saved me because my child was going to ruin my furniture at some point anyways.... I was pregnant at the time
154points
#9
My ex father in law and step mother in law cleaned my house when I went into early labor.
Which is really nice right?
Well… whey went through everything and let me know about it.
They folded my underwear and my pajamas. Like, every drawer had been gone through and folded.
Went through my bathroom and cleaned out my drawers.
I think they thought in was on drugs or something, but I’ve never done drugs in my life. (Well, I recently started taking gummies)
I felt so violated and angry, but never said anything because I didn’t want to make waves.
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146points
When staying with a friend for more than a day, etiquette experts recommend guests offer to help around the house. Washing dishes, pitching in for groceries and all that stuff. However, a polite guest would never start cleaning around the house without the host's permission.
#10
Ash their cigarette on the floor then get really, really mad when we asked them not to do it again.
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141points
#11
My aunt, uncle, and my cousins took a vacation out to my area once, and we invited them over for dinner. I haven't seen them in years, so I don't know my cousins very well. One of my cousins upon entering our home immediately started quietly walking into every room in the house, and started opening up closets, dresser drawers and cabinets. There wasn't anything he could stumble upon that was embarrassing or valuable, and we didn't want to make a scene, so we just kinda let him have the run of the house. My Aunt and Uncle acted like this was just a normal thing. Later on I called my mom and asked about that and she said "Oh yea, that kid is super weird. We have to lock all of our bedroom doors when he comes over. He tends to just riffle through peoples personal lives. He doesn't take anything, he just likes to snoop." People are strange.
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129points
#12
Our friend had his auntie over from somewhere, and we invited them over for some drinks.
The auntie started rubbing my leg under the table.
I just sat there talking, trying to ignore it.
My wife went to the bedroom to do something and our friend followed her, making a move.
It was literally like they had it planned all along.
Hence to say, we never had anything to do with them ever again after that.
The auntie started rubbing my leg under the table.
I just sat there talking, trying to ignore it.
My wife went to the bedroom to do something and our friend followed her, making a move.
It was literally like they had it planned all along.
Hence to say, we never had anything to do with them ever again after that.
127points
Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick, founder of The Etiquette School of New York, offers Elle Decor a possible script to let your guest down easy. "Tell them it's not necessary by saying, 'Don't worry! My housekeeper is coming tomorrow after you leave.' Whether or not that's true, it doesn't matter. Maybe you're the housekeeper the next day."
#13
I had a friend take an hour long s**t in my bathroom once. When he came out, finally, I asked if he was ok. He sheepishly said, "yeah, sorry. I had some cleaning up to do." When I asked what that meant he said, "well, I went in to just pee but then decided to try to squeeze out a fart but sharted all over your wall. I've spent the last hour cleaning the s**t off of the stucco."
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122points
#14
When I was younger my mom woke up at 6am on a random weekday and found a neighbor kid from a few blocks away just eating cereal at our kitchen counter. He was completely unphased. Didn’t have mental issues and didn’t have a broken home. Just felt like cereal I guess
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122points
#15
A family friend was staying at my house for the week. At the end of the week, my desktop was working real slow. After a brief look through of the history, I noticed two things. The amount of cartoon p**n both viewed and downloaded was ridiculous. I didn't know how to react in the moment, but on the drive to his home, I had to let him know that he was definitely banned from using my desktop after that.
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117points
What if your houseguest is all up in your fridge? The co-host of the "Awesome Etiquette" podcast Lizzie Post advises to let your guests know what's off-limits upfront. "You might let someone know, 'Oh, help yourself to anything in the fridge, but the chocolate cake is going to be dessert on Friday night.'"
#16
In my first apartment I made the mistake of telling a friend to "help himself" to my fridge thinking he'd grab a drink.
He made a sandwhich, grabbed a parfait I had in there for me to have later in the day, took a whole family sized bag of doritos, and then decided he also wanted to clear out other portions of my food. When he came back with all this s**t and started pounding it down I was in shock. Worst part? I was a poor college student working two part time jobs to afford anything I had, and he -knew- I didn't have a lot. He lived at home with his parents and was allowed to binge eat like this whenever---I didn't have that luxury.
I didn't invite him over, and if he tagged along with friend I told them all the fridge/my food was off limits.
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116points
#17
Stuck his head between my couch cushions, threw up in there, and left.
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107points
#18
One time I was having a party and a friend asked if he could bring his friend. I said sure. Said friend got really drunk and started eating grass and mooing like a cow 🤷🏽♂️
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100points
Etiquette experts claim guests should know to clean up after themselves. Make your bed, and keep your bathroom clean. But don't snoop around. "It’s not polite to open medicine cabinets or rifle through drawers," etiquette experts warn, certified etiquette consultant Nikesha Tannehill Tyson told Casa De Suna.
#19
My mother-in-law twice rearranged my furniture and all my kitchen stuff. Obvious boundary issues, but I still don't know how that even gets in a person's mind as a thing to do. This is the same woman who would clean out her closets and come dump literal trash bags full of stuff on us with no regard to whether it would even fit any of us, much less finer details like style. Naturally, she took offense when told to stop.
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99points
#20
Invited a guy over for game night. Start time was 7pm or 7:30. He shows up at 6:00 pm. I have a long driveway. He parks in the center. I have to have him move for other guests of course. He comes in the house and I try to gain insight into why he's here so early. He says can't predict traffic and better to be early. He helps himself to a coke without asking. Then asks me what streaming services I have. He then puts on star wars the clone wars animated series and starts watching. He then asks for a snack so I get him one. When everyone else arrives he whips out his own home made card game. We play the game until 9:00 pm on the dot. At which point he promptly stands up. Proclaims he has to leave and does. Takes his game with him too of course. I still haven't recovered from this.
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97points