When people think about bad habits, it’s often smoking and similar unhealthy behavior that comes to mind. But sometimes, something way less detrimental, yet far from praise-worthy, too, can get on people’s nerves.
Members of the ‘Ask Reddit’ community recently discussed bad habits that way too many people have. Their examples ranged from annoyances, such as lacking basic elevator etiquette, to more peculiar things, like nasal spray addiction, showing just how diverse bad habits can be. If you’re curious to learn more, scroll down to find more examples on the list below.
Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and he was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find his thoughts in the text below.
This post may include affiliate links.
Just absentmindedly being in the way. Like just standing in a place without awareness of their surroundings. I work in a grocery store and it’s enough to make me go mad. I understand you’re weighing your options but sir/maam, you are taking up the entire aisle doing it pls pick a side.
Playing loud music or videos on their phone without earbuds in a community space like a library.
Grown adults littering like 60’s 5th graders. Extra points for doing it out of a moving car with people behind you.
The OP shared that the reason he decided to pose this particular question was watching a video about car repairs—that’s when he learned that almost 75% of people don’t maintain their car.
“There may be no proof of that number but still, it blew my mind how many people neglected their vehicles; I learned the hard way to take care of my car,” he told Bored Panda. “It made me think about other bad habits that are surprisingly common.”
Getting offended when someone makes a mistake. You're not going to die if some random stranger on the net doesn't know the difference between their, there, and they're.
Also getting offended by someone's personal preferences. So what if some people prefer iPhone over android, DC over Marvel, or cream in their coffee. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not like they listen to Justin Beiber.
Grammar. The difference between knowing your sh*t and knowing you're sh*t.
Not using their turn signal.
Almost killed by a guy yesterday because he wasn't signaling and wasn't looking where he was going. I'm running two headlights, two tail lights, and spoke lights on my bike and he still missed me by inches. And he wasn't signaling so I thought he was going straight through.
Car-related habits are not only why the OP started the thread, but also what he considers to be the worst of them all. “I think the worst habit that a lot of people have is bad driving. Not only is it frustrating but it is dangerous; yet it's so common. People don't seem to understand how deadly a car crash can be,” he pointed out in a recent interview.
As for the bad human tendencies that surprised him the most, the redditor said he was taken aback by people’s hygiene-related behavior. “I think the most shocking response was when someone stated that not washing hands was a bad habit and someone else agreeing and stating that they worked in a doctor's office and most of the doctors didn't wash their hands. Ick.”
Kids are talking to their parents, trying to tell them something they think is exciting or interesting Parents *staring at phone* ~mumble some kind of half assed response I know we’re all on our phones but if your little kid wants your attention you need to put your phone away and give them your time.
Poor appreciation and respect for other people's time. If you agree to meet someone or agree to attend an event you should be making every effort to be on time. Also stop double booking.
Be on time, not early nor late. Especially when going home to someone. If in a public place being early is fine. 👍
Stopping with their shopping carts in the middle of the grocery aisle and walking over to the other side while they browse the shelves. Move your f*****g cart out of the way so the rest of us can pass through.
I started ramming them a while back. Gives me some sort of dirty little satisfaction :D
So you're the reason why the carts won't roll straight
Load More Replies...
Same. Have fun looking for your cart in a packed grocery store. Bc other people will continue moving it
Load More Replies...
It amazes me the amount of women who walk away from their cart and leave their purse wide open and unattended
I have never been in such an all-fire hurry while grocery shopping to let this bother me. Same with people standing in the aisle. I know that this bugs other people, but at 64 I've stopped letting these things bug me. Any delay usually lasts less than 30 seconds.
Wtv. I'm 54 and who knows how long any of us have. I refuse to waste my precious time on rude dipshiits that can't stay out of the way. As the song says move b!tvh get out the way!
Load More Replies...
I guess we should just all wait until all the important people are finished shopping before we start.
I usually hit theirs with mine and make a huge racket. That snaps them back into reality.
There's a Panda question. How far have you gotten with someone's cart after you've taken it when they leave it in the middle of the aisle?
I just quietly move the cart out of they way. If the shopper complains, I just say "Sorry. but you were blocking the whole aisle". 99% of the time, they apologize and agree to move their cart.
I asked a lady once if she was either an idiot or ignorant. She didn't like it too much.
or leave the cart in 1 aisle to run to another cause you forgot something... bring it with you.
Or they're standing to one side of the aisle with their trolley pointing 45 degrees into the middle of the aisle !
Or two people blocking an aisle because they want to catch up. Move the hell out of my way Becky and Karen!
I like how the OP specifies Grocery Stores. Because, I'm mad at the person who doesn't scoot up to let me get on the highway ramp, or the guy who doesn't see me walking on my side of the hall. BUT. GET YOUR CART AND GET OUT OF THE ENTRANCE!! CHECK YOUR LIST LATER!
So...the person in the aisle, stole your baby?kicked your dog? fired you? No? So then what is the issue? And before you shout "common decency!", not everyone lives their lives thinking about how their every move will affect you. Ok, hear me out...can you not just kindly ask them to step aside or move their cart? No, seriously. I agree it can be a little annoying, but I've had my moments where something catches my eye and I'm like "squirrel!" and wander off. It happens; no one is intentionally trying to ruin your life. I mean, f you want to get annoyed about something that is easily fixed by basic manners, that's your prerogative, but that's gonna be a you problem.
Still continuing to drive while on a cell phone despite the dangers and fines associated with it.
Waiting to talk instead of listening.
Being checked out during social interactions. Phone in hand, not really listening, not present.
not washing your hands after going to the bathroom (look it up it’s acc scary how little ppl wash their hands after going to the bathroom)
Basic elevator etiquette. When an elevator door opens the people inside get out before those waiting to get in enter. Super simple. Amazing how many adults are unaware of this simple social norm.
Tailgating. Count out a 2-5 second following distance at highway speeds, folks. That ain’t it and you’re making traffic *much worse.*
Tailgating isn't a 'bad habit', it's highly dangerous. Top Tip: The pic doesn't show 'tailgaiting', it shows a traffic jam. In slow-moving traffic, it's perfectly fine to reduce the distance between yourself and the car in front. That said at speed/on the freeway it can be deadly.
No manners and bitter behavior when they are a customer/client.
Responding with defensiveness rather than curiousity to the unknown.
Interrupting.
"Knock knock" "Who's there?" "Interrupting cow" Interr.." "Mooooooooooooooo" 😅
Chewing with their mouths open. I hate eating out in public because the sound of people smacking their food is all I can hear.
Stopping. In. Doorways.
Like b***h! Do you want to get ran over? I will run over you.
Just kidding. I will silently get annoyed and let it secretly ruin my day.
In the same category, people who stop when they reach the top of the stairs, escalator, moving walk way, or exit a bus, train, or elevator. You might not know where you are going, but move to the side. There are people behind you that need to move into the space you are currently occupying. Move.
Materialism: buying stuff just for the sake of buying it, not because you need it.
I think a lot of people have this huge empty hole in their soul that they constantly try to fill with more and more stuff.
Smoking. It’s been known long enough that it [harms] you and can harm people around you too. Too many people still start the habit.
Well it's not exactly an easy thing to fix. There are many socio-economic factors, plus many people try cigarettes but not everyone gets addicted the same way. I, for example, became much much much more dependent than an average smoker and it was a looooooooong and hard struggle to finally kick the habit. And the urge to smoke a cigarette comes back periodically - Less and less frequently, and it's less and less intensive, but I expect that random urges for a cigarette will oxcasionally pop up for the rest of my life.
Oversharing on social media. Privacy has become so rare and it is not helped by the fact that most products/services also require your personal info
Oh yeah, my mom pisses her facebook friends off by constantly oversharing. Well, if she had an actual outlet, she might not feel the need to 🤷🏽♀️
Peeing in pools, or in bodies of water while surrounded by other people.
Social media/phone addiction. How many of us do anything without our phones now? When’s the last time you left your house without it? The last time you forgot your phone or lost it, how anxious did you feel? Every time I try to slow down on my usage, I do good at first and then I have a day where I could be doing anything else and I still go to my phone and waste the day away. I’ll absentmindedly pull it out while I’m watching tv too. Or playing video games. Here I am at work on it again.
My phone broke earlier this week and I had to go about half a day without it. Yes, it was a huge inconvenience as far as contacting people was concerned, but there was something really blissful about my walk, because I wasn't stopping to take pictures to show anyone anything, and no one was interrupting my thoughts so I had to be 100% just in my moment. It's nice to take a break, but with society now, still gotta have it around.
The number of people who don't brush their teeth twice a day is deeply upsetting.
I'm one of these people. Not because I don't think I need to, it's just that dental hygiene as a whole is something I've always really had to struggle against my depression to get done. It's a bit better since getting an electric toothbrush and some prescription toothpaste.
Lying.
Probably the biggest shock I got from the real world once I started adulting is how much people lie and try to manipulate. It’s disheartening
I don't believe OP has never said they liked a gift when they didn't, told a friend they look great just to make them feel better, said they like a dish someone has cooked when it's actually not great, made an excuse to get out of a social/family function they didn't want to go to, etc. 'Lying' is not a binary thing. It's not OK to try and manipulate people, but everyone 'lies'. The only question is 'to what extent?'
Insulting another person’s intelligence the second they feel insecure about their own. So basically, projection.
Drinking little to no water daily. Then they think that grumble in their stomach is hunger pangs, so they eat more salty food. And sometimes take ibuprofen for their dehydration-induced headaches. Can’t imagine that’s amazing for the kidneys.
Note: this post originally had 37 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I hate with all the passion people who throw firecrackers! It's like a most stupid trend in my stupid country that whole freaking December and January, stupid a******s are throwing firecrackers of really big size and noise level all over the areas where people live, not parties, just areas where people live right under our windows! They do that day and night, and stupid parents even buy them for children (until someone loses a finger or worse) to "play". After each stupid explosion to make things worse, scared barking of all dogs in area then screaming of frightened small children. And no one reacts to stop that madness! Most stupid, most annoying, most polluting, most horrible and stressful thing ever invented!
Not moving over for emergency vehicles is high on my personal list!
The ones that are personal choices that don't effect others are ok with me. If you want to bite your nails, have at it.
EXACTLY. They might be bad habits, but as long as they don't affect me, go ahead. The same way, l'll try to be the most considerate possible to you in a public space but don't you dare to lecture me on binge watching series or eating too much pizza or picking ingrown hairs (totally made up examples, of course)
Load More Replies... I'd add engine idling: if you're not moving, switch it off - leaving it running doesn't exempt you from parking regulations. Also scraping someone else's car while parking and not bothering to say sorry. Both make me seethe.
this! there's someone who lives across the road from me, and every day at about 5am they sit in their car for 30-40 minutes, shining their headlights into my house. i don't know, due to the distance, if their car is running that whole time or just has the switch on, but it's rude either way!
Load More Replies...
How about the copious and intrusive ads on BP that cause the page to reload 29 times.
How about people who sit on gym equipment for hours playing on their phone? If you want to play on your phone, go home.
"30 Bad Habits That A Shocking Amount Of People Have" - Should it not be "shocking *number" or *numbers? Unless you mince those poor people for a roast dish, but then that amount of pulpeople no has habits
For most of these, I just thought, "Oh, ffs,grow up, you wänker "
I hate with all the passion people who throw firecrackers! It's like a most stupid trend in my stupid country that whole freaking December and January, stupid a******s are throwing firecrackers of really big size and noise level all over the areas where people live, not parties, just areas where people live right under our windows! They do that day and night, and stupid parents even buy them for children (until someone loses a finger or worse) to "play". After each stupid explosion to make things worse, scared barking of all dogs in area then screaming of frightened small children. And no one reacts to stop that madness! Most stupid, most annoying, most polluting, most horrible and stressful thing ever invented!
Not moving over for emergency vehicles is high on my personal list!
The ones that are personal choices that don't effect others are ok with me. If you want to bite your nails, have at it.
EXACTLY. They might be bad habits, but as long as they don't affect me, go ahead. The same way, l'll try to be the most considerate possible to you in a public space but don't you dare to lecture me on binge watching series or eating too much pizza or picking ingrown hairs (totally made up examples, of course)
Load More Replies... I'd add engine idling: if you're not moving, switch it off - leaving it running doesn't exempt you from parking regulations. Also scraping someone else's car while parking and not bothering to say sorry. Both make me seethe.
this! there's someone who lives across the road from me, and every day at about 5am they sit in their car for 30-40 minutes, shining their headlights into my house. i don't know, due to the distance, if their car is running that whole time or just has the switch on, but it's rude either way!
Load More Replies... How about the copious and intrusive ads on BP that cause the page to reload 29 times.
How about people who sit on gym equipment for hours playing on their phone? If you want to play on your phone, go home.
"30 Bad Habits That A Shocking Amount Of People Have" - Should it not be "shocking *number" or *numbers? Unless you mince those poor people for a roast dish, but then that amount of pulpeople no has habits
For most of these, I just thought, "Oh, ffs,grow up, you wänker "
