“The Things I’ve Seen, I Can’t Unsee”: 30 Times People Were Shocked By How Others Live
Interview With Expert
No matter what your home is like, that environment becomes your normal. You might be used to sharing a cramped bedroom with your siblings, or you may have a private wing in the house all to yourself. We know that everyone’s home is unique, but it can still be shocking to realize that even your friends might be living in drastically different conditions from you.
Redditors have recently been sharing stories of visiting another person’s house and being stunned by the way they live, so we’ve gathered some of their replies below. From being surprised that two parents can actually love each other to being disgusted by a clear lack of cleanliness, enjoy scrolling through these stories, and keep reading to find conversations with Michael Shaw, Founder and Managing Director at We Clean Homes, and the team at Maids in Brown! Image credits: TheKhannunisT
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Went to a new friends house for the first time when I was in the 6th(?) grade. We walked through the front door.
Friend: Mom! We're home!
Mom comes around a corner: Oh my god! It's so great to finally meet you! Friend talks about you a lot! (Gives me a hug) How are you!?
Me: ^I'm ^fine.
Mom: Are you hungry? I was about to make us a snack. Dad! Come meet Friend's friend!
Dad comes around another corner: Hey kiddo! It's good to meet you. (Shakes my hand) If you guys are good, I'll take you guys to Fun Place later and we'll get some pizza. (Kisses Mom) I'll be in the garage. (Smacks Mom's butt)
Mom: (giggles) You guys go play in your room. I'll bring you something to eat.
I was stunned. They were nice to me AND each other! I mentioned it to my friend later, and he apologized because they "were so embarrassing". My parents weren't in a room together without at least insulting each other.
I really hope Friend's parents are still married and insanely happy.
Edit: Since this kinda blew up. They were really the nicest couple. They really loved each other and my friend, from what I saw. I hung out there for a bit, but I ended up moving (again) about a year later.
We indeed went for pizza that night, and his mom made a really big breakfast the next morning. The blueberry cake thing she made still lingers in my dreams.
They are the couple that I've most tried to emulate in my marriage of nearly 30 years. It really does help to have the right partner, but it is definitely worth the effort.
Thirty years and still remembers the positive experience, that is amazing. He remembers it for all of the right reasons.
I did homecare for a woman. She wasn't disabled, just really fat and lazy. She peed in a bed pan so she wouldn't have to get up, was just the epitome of disgusting. She has a cat, very sweet, no name. I saw cockroaches in it's food dish. It was wet food, and crusted over, it was old and disgusting. I took the cat the next time i was there. When I went back, she asked if I'd let the cat out, as he went outside occasionally. I said nope must have been someone else. She wasn't concerned at all. She just wanted her damn fried chicken. I'll never forget that cat, seemed so grateful for his escape.
Mom of my sons friend would always drop him off at our house to hang out and she would always comment how lovely our house was, which was a sense of pride for me as it was my dream home that I designed and built.
Then one day he was going to their house to hang out so I drop him off. Driving down the road to their house and round the corner to what looks like a French ski chateau, just grand and enormous. Let’s just say most of my house could fit in the garage.
She opens the door and my jaw hits the ground with the immense opulence and beautiful wood working. We exchanged pleasantries and of course I comment ‘this is a really really lovely place!’ She said thank you and off I went.
Picked up the kid later in the day, says how nice the parents and siblings are. Made me realize that not all rich people are a******s, only the ones who act like they have money but really don’t. Was eye opening for me.
I thought this was going the other way. Where your kid friends house was a dunp. Glad turned out in a good way.
While some of the replies to this post were uplifting, wholesome stories about encountering happy families, unfortunately, the vast majority of them weren't. So to learn more about the importance of taking care of our homes, we reached out to Michael Shaw, Founder and Managing Director at We Clean Homes in the UK.
Michael was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda, noting that "maintaining a clean and organized living space is crucial for both physical and mental well-being."
"A tidy home promotes a sense of calmness and order, reduces stress levels, and fosters a healthier environment for oneself and others," he explained. "Additionally, cleanliness helps prevent the spread of germs and diseases, contributing to overall health and safety."
Visiting my best friend on the other side of the country in his modest apartment where he has his cat and all of his instruments. He made me a very dude worthy meal instantly upon arrival without hesitation, I could tell it was something he didn't make very often as it came out questionable but I appreciated the thought and effort. I'll never forget the internal battle I fought for the first day to not judge his lifestyle... he did everything he could to make sure I was comfortable and worry free... and as the week progressed and the good times stacked I realized that I'd been overcomplicating my life which was leading to massive mental health battles.
He's still my brother to this day and I have largely simplified my life since that trip and I'm much happier for it.
Going to a friend's house and realizing they have a fully stocked fridge and pantry with actual food, not just ramen and frozen pizza.
Delivered pizzas in my very early twenties in rural NH and around the Massachusetts border in an area that tended to be economically depressed. I saw it all. Houses where I would gag the minute the door opened from the melange of cigarettes, cat p**s, dirty dog, old grease, mold, and other less identifiable odors. Garbage EVERYWHERE, often bulging garbage bags sitting out in the open that were clearly not new, often with visible holes from rodents. Seas of empties, with every surface covered in cigarette ash and unidentifiable stains and crusts. Yards with knee-high grass filled with trash, broken cars and appliances, dog s**t, and sun-bleached toys. Floors that felt disturbingly spongy when I had to step inside and walls that were sweating from the humidity.
This isn't even half of it, by the way. Rural poverty and the diseases of despair that accompany it is a fast path to the nadirs of the human condition.
Michael and his team have also encountered their fair share of homes that could warrant a spot on this list. "Over the years, we've come across various living conditions that have been truly shocking," he shared.
"From extreme clutter and hoarding to unsanitary environments, it's often distressing to witness individuals living in such challenging conditions. Each case serves as a reminder of the complex factors that can contribute to housing instability and the importance of compassionate intervention and support," the expert noted.
When I was 17 I went to a girl's house... She and her mum were smoking in the room we're in... They proceed to ash on the carpart... I must've looked surprised .. as the mum said "oh.. don't worry . It's a rental..".
My GF/now Wife visiting me unannounced one day when I was living in my Grandmothers basement. It was embarrassing, as it was almost at a hoarder level of mess.
I was so ashamed at my situation that I changed. (Mostly) Hitting 30 years together this year, so I did something right.
Walking into my friend's dorm after they said it was super messy and realizing that it was nothing compared to the mess that was in mine. It was honestly a wake-up call.
Michael also shared some advice for those who might be struggling to maintain a clean home. "It's essential to start small and focus on manageable tasks," he noted. "Breaking cleaning duties into smaller, more achievable goals can help prevent overwhelm and increase motivation."
"Establishing a regular cleaning routine, delegating tasks among household members, and investing in practical storage solutions can also streamline the process," Michael says. "Additionally, seeking support from friends, family, or professional organizers can provide valuable assistance and encouragement along the way."
When I went to a new friends house to teach him one of my recipes and found out the fridge contained nothing but butter and the carrots I’d asked him to buy. He was living on exclusively toast.
Several years later and I’m proud to report he actually knows how to cook now thanks to me 😆.
Buddy just had a baby with some girl just as lazy as him....diaper mountains in every corner of their apartment. Smelled like one too. He also uses Dip tobacco so there were wads of dip on the carpet and in his bed.....I don't talk to him much anymore.
I’m an HVAC service technician, so I’m in people’s houses all the time, every day. All walks of life, from extremely rich on down. I’ve seen the hoarders and the slobs, but the worst was a house that looked like 6 cats got together to buy a home, then decided to let an old man live with them if he stayed in the corner and put food out. Absolutely disgusting, with cat litter and s**t dusted literally through the entire house. I almost left and would have if it wasn’t just a case of his coil freezing because the filter was clogged with fur. Felt bad for him, obviously a mental health issue.
Six cats got together to buy a home ... The secret cabal ... Now I know
While it can be shocking to encounter a home that's very different from your own, Michael wanted to emphasize the importance of empathy and understanding when addressing issues related to living conditions.
"Behind every cluttered space or unkempt home, there may be underlying challenges such as mental health struggles, financial difficulties, or physical limitations," he told Bored Panda. "By approaching these situations with compassion and offering support rather than judgment, we can create a more inclusive and supportive community for all."
Realtor here. One time, I went to an older couple's home to answer some listing questions. Place looked immaculate on the inside: it stank beyond belief though. And not any normal smell; imagine mixing gasoline with just a hint of flower scented air freshener.
And it was overpowering. Not a single room in the house was the smell not vomit inducingly strong. 7 years in real estate, and it is the only listing I have EVER had no choice but to make an excuse to leave early.
After the retired couple moved out (but before we put the home on the MLS) we hired a home inspector to find the smell. Turns out these people were keeping toxic mole killer in their laundry room. Instructions even specified to keep it outside, that it was too toxic to be kept inside.
It may be a miracle those two are even alive.
I was really into this girl, she invited me over to her house and it was almost traumatizing.
They had like a dozen pets with various smells and ailments, they were basically unattended and made the house stink
her 4 older brothers had been in jail, she had to keep her bedroom padlocked otherwise they would steal from her
Her little brother (maybe 12 at the time) was yelled at for smoking … in the house. If you were under 15 you had to smoke outside.
Finally her mother showed up and started telling us all about her health problems and I had to leave once the pro-lapsed a**s convo started.
i feel bad for her above everything else - hope she had a good life after that :(
Had a girlfriend for a long time who would always come to my place, no problem, not a big deal. She was great and had a really good job in the same area as me, pretty high up in the chain in dc. Anyways, we were always going to my place. No exception. So one night we were out at the bar and I asked her if we could go back to her place so I can get to know her better and see how she does things. Get a better sense for her. Well, that was the last night we hung out. She was a hoarder. Like DSM-5 compulsive hoarder. And she had cats. Like an unknown number of cats. So many that I asked her how many she had and she said it's kind of a rotating number and every now and then one of them dies so she hates to give a number and to be wrong. I tried to point out that giving the wrong number was the least of her problems. She wanted to insist that everything was fine and we could just enjoy relaxing after she cleared the bed. I told her I had to go home and she could call me again when she cleaned up. She never called, and I never missed her. In this literally at one point as we were walking through the house to let me out, I asked her how long it's been like this and how she could survive that way. She literally did not understand the question. It was extremely upsetting.
Hoarders never see the problem, it's not just being in denial it's much deeper and they genuinely don't see it. My parents are hoarders and in complete denial, it's awful. They complain that none of their kids visit and they never get to have their grandkids to stay overnight (they have 8 kids and 16 grandkids) but if we try to explain why they go mad. They get very defensive, angry and insist that we're being dramatic and it's not that bad. We try to explain that it's dangerous for young kids to be in a house that has floor to ceiling piles of stuff everywhere (literally lining the walls, piled on top of chests of drawers, wardrobes, shelving units etc.) Not to mention my dad leaves his very extensive tool collection openly lying around the house, (including dangerous power tools) as well as boxes of computer parts. Hoarding is a disease that destroys lives but nothing is ever done to help these people, I literally have nightmares about loved ones being buried alive under their stuff.
We were also lucky enough to get in touch with the team at Maids in Brown to hear their thoughts on this topic. "Taking care of your home and maintaining its cleanliness is paramount for several reasons, impacting both physical and psychological well-being," they shared.
"Firstly, a clean home is fundamental to health. Dust, mold, and other allergens can accumulate in a cluttered and dirty environment, leading to respiratory problems, allergies, and other health issues," the experts explained. "Regular cleaning eliminates these harmful substances, ensuring the air quality in your home is safe and conducive to good health."
I didn't even make it to his house. He was supposed to pick me up for a date, and when I opened the front passenger side door of his car, the floor was literally covered in trash. You could not see the floor matts, and the trash was at least three-four inches deep. I could not believe this dude didn't even respect me enough to clean out his passenger seat before picking me up. Just expected me to sit in his trash on the way to our date. Can only imagine what his place looked like.
One of my tenants' shower was entirely black from mould, except 2 footprints where she would stand.
Client home visit. Opened the can of coffee and a mouse jumped out. And they made me a coffee without batting an eyelid.
We both saw it.
I then told them I only drink tea.
While the Maids in Brown team says they've encountered a wide variety of homes, they're never startled by what they see. "We once had to take 15 bags of trash out from an apartment. You can barely find a spot to get in the apartment," they told Bored Panda.
"But for us it is not a shock. When we walk into such homes; we sympathize with the client," the team noted. "This is because most of the time clients that live in such homes have serious health issues. We understand that everyone has difficult situations, and different stories. We have no idea what challenges they have been through, and they need a support system that enables them to overcome their battles in life. Maids In Brown is passionate in promoting a state of well-being that everyone deserves."
I went to a friends house that only had one downstairs bathroom. They had ‘p**s bottles’ in their room for when they were too lazy to go for a p**s in the middle of the night. 2 litre bottles of p**s just laying around their room.
I know someone who regularly urinates in 20 ounce coke bottles, and saves it. Though he has a curious reason for it. Specifically, he does a lot of traditional style wood working, and one of the earliest stains used by man to darken wood... was concentrated human urine. So the urine is kept, poured into this large drum outside, and wood that he wants to darken is soaked in it for several weeks to allow the compounds in the urine to react with the wood and darken it. Before you ask, yes, he sands and sterilizes it after it's been soaked.
A friends brother appartment.
Example.
When he was done with a pizza, he would throw the box (and possible leftovers) behind the couch.
There was 3 feet of trash behind his couch.
So imagine his appartment now, but ad more trash.
Cleaning my hording grandmother's house. It had always been bad but it used to just be piles of stuff hundreds of blankets and bed sheets, cupboards over flowing with dishware and cookware, mountains of clothing, and piles of books and games. We would visit and argue about how unsafe it was and beg her to let us help her make space for herself and it would turn into a horrendous fight every time but as she got older she became less mobile and more senile.
We were cleaning out her space while she was in a nursing home for a broken leg and dementia and there was a bowl so full of maggots I thought it was rice we found cat and dog s**t petrified in the bedding piles (at this point it had been years since shed had any pets), they had a brown countertop and it took me a long time to comprehend what I was looking it. It was like looking at brown static eventually I realized I was looking at ants crawling around a slow cooker.
And if you need some tips for keeping your home clean, Maids in Brown recommends considering the power of delegation and teamwork. "If you live with family or roommates, involve them in maintaining the home," they shared. "Assign responsibilities based on everyone's schedules and abilities, turning cleaning into a shared responsibility rather than a solitary burden. For those who can afford it, hiring a professional cleaner for a deep clean even just twice a month can massively reduce the load, allowing you to maintain a cleaner home with less effort."
Entering the room of the guy who rented the space in my house (a separate apartment attached to the main house)—he had tons of trash, food containers, half-empty cups of soda, hadn’t swept or mopped in the two years he’d been there, etc.
Absolute filth. Hoarder-level s**t. I was appalled, disgusted, and furious. Needless to say, his a*s is OUT. 56 year-old Man-child. Made my ovaries shrivel. Just…what the cockroaching f**k.
Knowing that where I live a lot of guys work 12 hours, scroll YouTube for some time and sleep, repeat this 7 days a week(yes, 7 days) and 12 months a year. This is hell. I'm somewhere close to that situation too and it's scary.
I was in the Boy Scouts when I was about 10 and had this friend who obsessively collected every single badge available. I went to his house on the outskirts of town one time to pick him up. I was confused as the house had scaffolding outside and looked like it was still in the process of being built, so I asked him about it. He said, “Oh, we’re doing some renovations, so we’re sleeping out there for now”, as he points out a tent next to the house. I thought, “Wow, no wonder he has so many survival badges, he literally lives out in the woods.”.
I mean this one isn't so terrible. It's for a temporary period, it's not how they normally live.
"The goal is to make cleaning less of a chore and more of a manageable part of your routine," the Maids in Brown team says. "By decluttering, establishing daily habits, and sharing the load, keeping your home clean can become a much simpler task."
Worked on a 50 meter superyacht, It had the most hideous chairs in the dining room, each one cost $55k , I wouldn't have paid $5 for one, but it really opened my eyes to how the other half live!
I once visited a dude I knew somewhat from middle school, I was with a friend who was friends with him. We were 19/20. He had only recently moved in, but there was already a small mountain of smelly dishes and a smell of sweat cause he was playing that VR rhythm game Beat Saber, which requires a lot of movement.
When we were leaving, I had to take a quick leak in the toilet and just said "I'll just borrow your toilet for a minute" His reaction was "ermm..." as I was entering the toilet. What that "ermm" had in store for me was to this day traumatic for me...
Pee stains on the floor, pubic hair ON THE SINK and a smell of moldy clothes from the washing machine. HE HAD LIVED THERE FOR LESS THAN A MONTH.
He has never worked a day in his life and was playing online slots. He often posted about winning something like 2000€, and less than a week later asking 20€ for food in snapchat mystory. A couple years passed and he sent me a message, just asking for 10€ loan for a pack of cigarettes, he said he'd pay back in five days when he gets his social assistance payment. Five days later I ask about the money, he reads the message but ignores me completely. Doesn't delete me or anything, just ignores.
I tell about it to another friend who knows him and some other common friends of theirs, and he says that I'm not going to see that 10€ ever again. He's apparently loaned from plenty of people and is in debt over 500€ to one friend. I almost feel sorry for him, but a lot of those mistakes he made without the use of common sense.
Never lend money in that case? It's like buying alcohol for an alcoholic? Sort not of, but..
A girl I was dating wanted me to come over to her parent's place. When I walked in, there were boxes of stuff everywhere. I said, "Oh, I didn't know you all just moved in?" They had not just moved in.
We know these stories might not be the most enjoyable to read, but we hope they're providing you with some new perspective, pandas. Keep upvoting the tales that you find most surprising, and feel free to share any similar experiences of your own in the comments. Then, if you're interested in reading another Bored Panda article discussing strange things people have encountered in others' homes, look no further than right here!
I went to this chicks house and opened her fridge and it was just full of rotting food. She said it was Thanksgiving food she never got rid of and doesn’t use the fridge that much.
I once had an Arab foreign exchange student friend. She once was complaining that her dad didn’t send her tuition fee on time…she was already getting 10k/month allowance (from her dad), 2k for the apartment she was renting, rest was for food and whatever else she was using it for. He was paying her tuition on top of that. This was around 2014/2015.
I had a friend in my 20s whose dad bought her an entire house in Southern California, all to herself. Well, herself and her 10+ cats. Her dad paid for everything. She wanted to be a cat breeder, and she had bought some VERY expensive purebred cats. The house itself was disgusting. The cats had ONE litterbox and they often peed in the bathtub / on the couch / on the carpet / wherever they could. My friend had NO idea how to take care of herself or do any housework or anything. She used to call me to come over (a 45 min drive) to help her change a LIGHTBULB that had burned out. I once had to help her haul her pee-soaked couch to the curb for garbage pickup. She had almost no furniture. The house smelled awful. Those poor frigging cats.
I've been a paramedic for 25 years. The things I've seen, I can't unsee.
That has nothing to do with any medical emergency, either.
Note: this post originally had 55 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I've just went on a cleaning spree after reading those, just in case!
Yeah this made me want to go clean as well
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God, I cringe thinking about the house I lived in when I first moved off campus my junior year of college. It was a tiny space, no bigger than a walk-in closet for my room. There were 4 other rooms rented out, and we were all in half of the house. The owner lived in the other side of the house, which was cut off from us. There was no living area, just a hallway. Our bathroom was tiny and shared by 5 guys, and the kitchen, oh man the kitchen.... It was a toxic dump. Absolutely unusable. No one cleaned, ever. I tried a few times but it just got back to a wreck again bc no one cleaned up after themselves. I finally bought my own dishes, kept them in my room, washed them immediately after use and returned them to my room. I only stayed 1 semester thankfully.
I think that is a pretty common rite of passage. My brother always had a messy room as a kid but after renting a house with friends in college, he became disgusted with them and learned to clean up after himself
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I used to be friends with someone whose parents were hoarders. The first time I went over there all I got was "sorry it's a bit messy" I went home and took a shower afterwards.
I've just went on a cleaning spree after reading those, just in case!
Yeah this made me want to go clean as well
Load More Replies... God, I cringe thinking about the house I lived in when I first moved off campus my junior year of college. It was a tiny space, no bigger than a walk-in closet for my room. There were 4 other rooms rented out, and we were all in half of the house. The owner lived in the other side of the house, which was cut off from us. There was no living area, just a hallway. Our bathroom was tiny and shared by 5 guys, and the kitchen, oh man the kitchen.... It was a toxic dump. Absolutely unusable. No one cleaned, ever. I tried a few times but it just got back to a wreck again bc no one cleaned up after themselves. I finally bought my own dishes, kept them in my room, washed them immediately after use and returned them to my room. I only stayed 1 semester thankfully.
I think that is a pretty common rite of passage. My brother always had a messy room as a kid but after renting a house with friends in college, he became disgusted with them and learned to clean up after himself
Load More Replies... I used to be friends with someone whose parents were hoarders. The first time I went over there all I got was "sorry it's a bit messy" I went home and took a shower afterwards.
