“I Am Baffled To This Day”: 50 Weird Things Guests Thought Were Acceptable To Do
Interview With Author
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.
This post may include affiliate links.
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.
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."
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?”
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.
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.
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
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.
I'd have made waves so big you'd have needed a jet ski inside my house! What a couple of horrid people!
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.
Ash their cigarette on the floor then get really, really mad when we asked them not to do it again.
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.
They might have given a head's up before the visit.
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.
did they try to do a foursome with op and their wife or sth? im confused
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."
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."
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
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.
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.'"
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.
Stuck his head between my couch cushions, threw up in there, and left.
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 🤷🏽♂️
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.
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.
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.
My college friend came down to my dorm room sobbing because she “couldn’t stop sucking d**k” and then proceeded to eat my roommate’s Mac and cheese out of a pot while crying between spoonfuls. I was speechless.
For those hosts whose guests are prone to snooping around, Napier-Fitzpatrick recommends telling them your boundaries. "Say, 'Oh, I'm very private, I'd really prefer you don't look through my closet,'" she says. The best solution is to put away the things you want to keep private altogether.
Had a colleague turn up two hours early for a party once. Brought his whole family. I didn’t know this guy that well but had basically opened the invitation to anyone at work who wanted to pop round. His kids didn’t play with mine and his wife barely spoke. Nothing was ready and there was no food and I hadn’t even showered and got ready yet. When the designated time for the party came around and other guests started arriving, they left. I’ve never invited them around since and the rest of the party had a good old chuckle about it when I explained what had happened.
Take a shower. She’s just excused herself half way through dinner and went and took a shower. Never met her before that night
My mother-in-law was coming to visit, and I saw her arrive. Instead of knocking on our front door, though, she went in the backyard. I was so confused. I looked out back to see her going behind a bush, dropping trou, and squatting. I assume she peed. I am baffled to this day. I said nothing.
I imagine scenario when older laby with weak bladder just had to go immediately and walking through the social norm steps at the house would have taken to long so she did it behind a bush. It's embarasing to run to someones house to pee the moment they open the door, or risking too pee yourself at the in laws doorstep. So either that or she's crazy
A lot of the nightmare scenarios in this list have to do with the bathroom, so let's tackle that issue. Napier-Fitzpatrick says that this topic is best approached with humor. If your guest is taking suspiciously long in the bathroom, jokingly call out "Yoo-hoo! We're waaaaaiting!" or hum the "Jeopardy" theme song.
Tried to convince us that the earth was flat, then to demonstrate, grabbed an orange and dumped a glass of water over it. He thought we would see that because the water didn't stick to the round object, the earth couldn't possibly be round. I was just kinda pissed he dumped water on my floor.
Friend of mine had his buddy house sit for his family and the buddy setup all the christmas decorations in summer
Years ago. Had a small gathering. People chipped in for pizza and a guy and gal (not the guy’s wife, who was there) went to pick up. They never returned
Like hell my husband would be leaving a party to pick up pizza with some random girl.
One more common behavior of strange guests can be sitting down at your computer. That can be worrying, especially if you don't password-protect your device.
Lizzie Post suggests simply saying "Hey Jim, my computer isn't something I typically invite people to use whenever they want, so if you don't mind just checking with me first, I'd appreciate that. If you're just looking to check emails, I'd be happy to set you up with the iPad."
Ate an entire loaf of sliced bread like potato chips. By the time we noticed, half the bag was gone. He’d just grabbed it from our pantry and started eating it one slice at a time, directly from the bag…
A buddy and his girlfriend were playing cards with me and my wife. While playing, she thought he was looking at her hand to cheat. (He wasn't) They were also on the same team since it was spades. She open hand slapped him hard right across the face. We were all just stunned and frozen in place. That chick was crazy.
Parents were out of town. Had a small gathering - 10 people max - and A friend of mine who wasn’t part of the big circle of friends decided to drink a bottle of Dom my parents had been saving for years. Found him chugging it and I knew I was f****d. Spent a large chunk of student loan cash on replacing it. 🤦♂️
Having people over at your place is a normal part of socializing. If you're a guest, don't forget to always be grateful to your host. Leave them a handwritten (feels more personal) note at the end of your stay and always bring a gift when coming over. In return, hosts should tidy up before any guests arrive and be gracious if the guest breaks something – accidents happen.
Walked into the kitchen, turned the tap on, farted *very loudly* turned the tap off and walked back out like we didn't see or hear him let rip
Had some friends over for a house warming party. One of them went to my bedroom and put my CPAP mask on his junk and sent me a picture of it three days later.
There was this guy my husband and I had met once before, we invited him over to watch a movie with us (we were new to the city, trying to make friends), he said he’d bring pizza. He brought a half eaten pizza. He asked to use our laptop (was on FB the whole time) and proceeded to fall asleep in our living room recliner during the movie. It was an odd encounter.
Future brother in law unplugged our fridge to plug in a coffee pot.. didn't notice until it was all ruined. No, he didn't offer to cover anything
When I was about 8, I did a bunch of chores and saved up to buy an expensive comforter and sheet set. It was the most lovely shade of soft blue and was thick and so comfy. It was $150 for a twin size and this was A LOT of money in 1990.
Anyhow, my dad’s coworker came over and brought his 9 year old daughter. She was morbidly obese at 9 and super rude. I tried to be nice and let her play with my Barbie dream house, but she made fun of me for having it. My mom called me to dinner and she said she didn’t want to eat and was going to stay in my room. I thought it was weird, but she made me nervous so I didn’t question it. While my brother and I were eating dinner in the dining room, her dad called her to go and they left. When I got back to my room, my Barbie dream house had collapsed and was unfixable and she had shat on my comforter. I washed it so many times and even took it to get dry cleaned. Nothing got it out and I threw it away.
Did your Dad say anything to his coworker about how the daughter trashed your room?
Came into my house from the rain and used my hairbrush to *brush her dog.*
Oh I actually have an answer. So I had been flitting between board game circles for a while and had befriended a Danish guy who seemed nice enough. Had attended a few game nights at his apartment which had turned out be quite cordial. He would even go as far as to cook rice dishes for us but in all honesty, the food was genuinely awful tasting. I’d later make sure I’d was well fed before his game nights etc.
Fast forward a few months and I decide to host a game night at my place, inviting the Danish guy and a few of my close friends that he had never met. There was around six of us and things were going well. Towards the end of the night we had food and my Australian mate had some food stuck on his lower cheek near his mouth.
Then.. out of the blue, in front of everyone the Danish guy leans across the table, picks the bit of food off my friends’s face and eats it… without saying a word.
They had had minimal interaction the whole night. The night ended very shortly after that and the Danish guy was never invited again.
Seems harsh, communication seems a more reasonable first action in this case.
They started scraping a candle and proceeded to taste it to see if they could guess the flavor.
The flavor was pine cone. Don't ask me how I know what that tastes like
We threw a party in college and a bunch of people ended up coming that we did not know. It ended up getting super crowded and was becoming an issue, I glanced over and watched a guy ash his blunt on our living room carpet. We made everyone leave right after that and while people were waiting in the culdesac for a ride someone stabbed someone!! It was so crazy. The cops came up to our door and we said we seriously do not know any of these people they showed up!!!
My housemate/friends dad had to stay over the night (friend had minor surgery and his dad had driven him to and back from the hospital since I worked). Came down in the next morning to see a completely nude dad up and about. I… I don’t even know what I was supposed to do at that point.
Laydown on my couch and rest his feet WITH his shoes on the arm of my couch... I just stared at him... he seemed confused until I finally said "please take your shoes off" he seemed offended but complied.
WTF
So for context, I (30sF) live with my partner of 8+ years.
Anyway, a couple of years ago, I started grad school during the pandemic, and the first classes were on Zoom. I "made a friend" (also 30sF) in Zoom class, and we'd DM during the lessons. I eventually invited her to my place for wine & cheese on my porch, and at first, it was great. We got tipsy, chatted, gossiped, etc. Eventually, I mentioned that my partner and I had a Casper mattress (bed in a box), and she said she'd always thought about buying one but wished she could try it first before spending the money. Maybe this was my mistake in retrospect, but we were getting along great up until this point, so I told her she was welcome to try mine out. So, we go inside and back to the bedroom I share with my partner, and she sits down on the edge of the bed. She's talking about how she likes it blah blah blah, then she says, "But how does this hold up during sex?" She lies down and starts thrusting around wildly on our bed!!! Like violent, jackhammery pelvic thrusting, moving all over the bed, kind of like she was crab walking (?!). We're still in the same program but we no longer talk lol
This would have probably just made me laugh, but you have to know your audience.
A drunk person I didn't know once walked in my front door, went straight to my bathroom and then immediately passed out on the floor.
When my mom remarried, we had a small ceremony in our house and had a small spread of food including a honey-baked spiral cut ham that was the circumference of a dinner plate - just huge, green beans and devilled eggs. My aunt Rhonda, my mom's SIL, ate a stack of ham easily two inches thick, got a second plate with the same, ate all four of her kids plates (the kids didn't eat much) that had been piled high, ate 23 devilled eggs and packed up a third plate that had about three inches worth of ham slices. We just kind of sat back in amazement.
I was a freshman in college. I had an off-campus apartment. At one of the many parties, this guy comes up to me and says, "I spilled a beer on your carpet. It's okay though, I stepped on it." I had no idea what to say. We still joke about it occasionally.
It was around Christmas time and Christmas lights were hung around the inside of the house, most were connected in a single strand. I had some friends that were in a relationship over for the night and they were sleeping in the other room on the couch while myself and my girlfriend were sleeping in the bedroom. While we were trying to fall asleep suddenly the Christmas lights fell that were hanging, thinking nothing of it we hung them back up and went to sleep. Come morning we talk with the friend in the other room and first thing they mention is “Did you notice anything with the lights last night, it sounded like they fell”, we obviously said yes we did notice and to my surprise the next thing they said was “Haha that’s because we were having sex on your couch and we got stuck”. We soon got rid of the stained couch.
Had a big summer party and someone left bowling pins in various locations around the house ( oven, pantry, bathroom etc). At the same party, my friend left and said “Have a good evening…IN HELL!” I didn’t think much of it till the next morning when i walked in the bathroom (bowling pin in the corner) to brush my teeth and the toothpaste was liquid. I felt hot. He had set the thermostat over 100.
I still never learned who left the bowling pins.
Went to the corner in my dining room and immediately insisted the place was haunted and that someone had died in that spot. Refused to drop the subject. I kicked him out.
Took money out of my change jar, went and bought milk with it, came back, and ate a whole box of my cereal. They came over to hang out the night before and crashed on my couch. All this happened while I was asleep.
Honestly, am I the only weird one who locks the door? Is it normal for people to enter your homes and do anything without you even noticing?
Caught a close friend digging through my medicine cabinet. And he responded as if he was caught. It was weird.
I'm getting a lot of second hand annoyance/disbelief from this post
Shared an apartment with some friends when young. Was having a party, then a big brother of a friend show up, drunk as hell, standing in the hallway making racial slurs about a friend whos parents are from Jordan, and saying things like "he has no right to be here". We opened the door and one my friends got infront of him, telling him to gtfo. The guy (who is pretty big) then punched my friend straight in the face and refused to leave. Another friend walked towards him, telling him to leave, and this friend is an absolut mountain of a man. The guy still tried to punch him too, but my friend ducked - and punched back - sending the guy flying through the open front door into the stairway and we quickly locked. After a while the police showed up - the guy had called the police and said he'd been assulted...
One of my brothers-in-law has no social 'sense'. Two things always bothers me. If he comes over for a visit and your music is on he just walks over and turns it off without asking. And if he's hosting a diner, he always serves himself first. SMH
that's when you walk over and turn the music back on without asking.
Load More Replies... I'm getting a lot of second hand annoyance/disbelief from this post
Shared an apartment with some friends when young. Was having a party, then a big brother of a friend show up, drunk as hell, standing in the hallway making racial slurs about a friend whos parents are from Jordan, and saying things like "he has no right to be here". We opened the door and one my friends got infront of him, telling him to gtfo. The guy (who is pretty big) then punched my friend straight in the face and refused to leave. Another friend walked towards him, telling him to leave, and this friend is an absolut mountain of a man. The guy still tried to punch him too, but my friend ducked - and punched back - sending the guy flying through the open front door into the stairway and we quickly locked. After a while the police showed up - the guy had called the police and said he'd been assulted...
One of my brothers-in-law has no social 'sense'. Two things always bothers me. If he comes over for a visit and your music is on he just walks over and turns it off without asking. And if he's hosting a diner, he always serves himself first. SMH
that's when you walk over and turn the music back on without asking.
Load More Replies...