Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

Woman Can’t Recover After Visiting New BF’s Home For The First Time, Asks What She Should Do
Young woman thinking deeply with a concerned expression while sitting on a sofa at home.

Woman Can’t Recover After Visiting New BF’s Home For The First Time, Asks What She Should Do

36

ADVERTISEMENT

Everyone has different norms and conditions they are willing to accept from a potential partner. While some red flags are nearly universal, people tend to have pet peeves that get to them more than they might bother others. But sometimes, some issues are very apparent.

A woman asked the internet what she should do when she visited her boyfriend’s home for the first time and discovered that it was absolutely filthy and he seemed ok with it. Readers were quick to tell her this is a major red flag and most were surprised she wasn’t sure what to do with him.

RELATED:

    Visiting a new partner for the first time can be quite the learning experience

    Cluttered bedroom with clothes scattered on the floor and unmade bed, reflecting a woman’s visit to a man’s home.

    Image credits: wikornr (not the actual photo)

    But one woman found that her BF’s place was horribly messy and unsanitary

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Young woman sitting on couch looking concerned, reflecting on meeting a perfect man before visiting his home

    Image credits: nosovaolha (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Image credits: merrygoroundsss

    Some men don’t seem to register cleaning as a task that needs to be done

    It’s one of life’s enduring enigmas: how can an adult male work, pay his taxes, maybe even barbecue like a Michelin-starred chef, and remain utterly baffled by the concept of gathering socks from the carpet or cleaning up after their dogs? Some men, bless them, seem to consider cleanliness an optional side mission rather than a bare-bones survival skill.

    For these guys, the living room isn’t a shared space, it’s a display case in the museum of bachelor existence titled “Bachelor Pad, Circa Forever.” The laundry basket is more of an attraction and less of a heap, more like a miniature mountain range rising steadily in the corner. Dishes piling up in the sink don’t count as “dirty” until they’ve attained some sort of geological age, and as a bonus, a thin veneer of fuzz to present evidence of their evolution. To them, it’s not a daily chore to clean a counter but an epic struggle, worthy of the appropriate mood, the appropriate soundtrack, and a day’s worth of procrastination.

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    And they don’t lack it, precisely, just possess a weird ability to categorize mess as “background.” That pizza box on the floor isn’t trash, it’s the environment. Those socks strewn about the ground aren’t messy, they’re just reclining in their natural habitat. That dust bunny community under the couch? That’s just a small group of loyal pets, living undisturbed without attention or time-out.

    More astounding is the mental contortions involved. Somehow, a fellow able to remember every statistical tidbit of his favorite sporting team of the last decade cannot, for the life of him, remember where the dish towels are stored in the drawer. He’ll operate a power drill without hesitation but lock up like a deer in headlights when confronted with a vacuum cleaner. It’s as if there is an inner switch that says, “This is women’s magic. Do not use.” Of course, there are also enough cases of women having dirty homes that we can’t conclude that this is exclusively a male trait, but the trend is clear enough.

    Man vacuuming in modern kitchen inside home, suggesting unexpected glimpse into perfect man's living space.

    Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual photo)

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Sometimes the cause of this is the simple fact that they were never taught to do it in the first place

    Of course, not every man is a criminal of this nature, but for the ones who are, cleanliness manifests in a universe coexistent with their own. Cleaning for them is not so much “doing it now” and more “waiting until the mess comes to life and gives you notice and requires a green card.” When confronted, the most common excuse is, “But I was going to do it!”, a term which, when translated, usually boils down to “at some undefined point in the distant future, perhaps when the stars are in conjunction.”

    And yet, despite the chaos, there’s something nearly cute to it. The raging belief that a messy room is still somehow very livable, the juvenile shock when they actually do clean and find, “Wow, this place is great!”, as if they’d unlocked an in-game secret level. It’s infuriating and comical, the endless tug-of-war between adult responsibility and the internal teen who still thinks deodorant counts as cleaning. Sometimes people do have over-the-top and downright strange house rules, but there are some “normal” standards that everyone should follow.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    In the end, the puzzle remains unsolved. Why can’t some men get out of their houses in the right order? Maybe it’s cultural, maybe it’s habit, or maybe, maybe it’s because they quietly know someone else will eventually cave and do it. Whatever the reason, one thing is for sure, if adulthood could be gauged solely by the tidiness of one’s laundry basket, many men would still be waiting to graduate.

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Woman thinks she’s met a perfect man, cleaning his modern living room while he works on a laptop on the couch.

    Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual photo)

    She gave some more details later

    ADVERTISEMENT

    Most thought the relationship was doomed

    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT
    ADVERTISEMENT

    Poll Question

    Total votes ·

    Thanks! Check out the results:

    Total votes ·
    Share on Facebook
    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    Read less »
    Justin Sandberg

    Justin Sandberg

    Writer, BoredPanda staff

    I am a writer at Bored Panda. Despite being born in the US, I ended up spending most of my life in Europe, from Latvia, Austria, and Georgia to finally settling in Lithuania. At Bored Panda, you’ll find me covering topics ranging from the cat meme of the day to red flags in the workplace and really anything else. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, beating other people at board games, cooking, good books, and bad films.

    What do you think ?
    Suzie
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I would nope right out of there

    Nina
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Same here. Believe what you see. He is okay living like this, otherwise he would've put in effort to keep up with at least standard cleaning. It's easy to blame things on the ex, you can't compare notes with them.

    Load More Replies...
    The_Nicest_Misanthrope
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The bog was black? Yeah sorry honey, but you're dating a pig. I promise you he ain't doing S**T to get it clean.

    Nikole
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That was what sealed the (non) deal for me.

    Load More Replies...
    Nils Skirnir
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He’s expecting OP to clean and to be his house slave. Run far and run very, very, very fast.

    Nina
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, I was wondering when he would start putting as much effort into her as into the house. It isn't going to get better, only worse.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
    Suzie
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I would nope right out of there

    Nina
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Same here. Believe what you see. He is okay living like this, otherwise he would've put in effort to keep up with at least standard cleaning. It's easy to blame things on the ex, you can't compare notes with them.

    Load More Replies...
    The_Nicest_Misanthrope
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The bog was black? Yeah sorry honey, but you're dating a pig. I promise you he ain't doing S**T to get it clean.

    Nikole
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That was what sealed the (non) deal for me.

    Load More Replies...
    Nils Skirnir
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He’s expecting OP to clean and to be his house slave. Run far and run very, very, very fast.

    Nina
    Community Member
    4 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah, I was wondering when he would start putting as much effort into her as into the house. It isn't going to get better, only worse.

    Load More Replies...
    Load More Comments
    You May Like
    Related on Bored Panda
    Popular on Bored Panda
    Trending on Bored Panda
    Also on Bored Panda
    ADVERTISEMENT