#1
They actually used their treadmill for exercise instead of as a clothes rack like the rest of humanity.
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42points
#2
Having absolute no soap whatsoever. They believed water could do the job, and soap was 'society lies.'.
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27points
#3
My buddy had a jacuzzi, right next to the pool. Jacuzzi and this portion of the pool were enclosed in the back porch, but you could swim under a wall to get to the rest of the pool. It was so cool.
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20points
A bit of a mess is to be expected in many family homes with lots of kids—it’s difficult to keep your home gleaming and ‘perfectly’ tidy when you’ve got work, studies, parenting, and other responsibilities weighing on your shoulders. You tidy up one mess only for another to spring up and take its place in mere minutes.
However, there are lines that, when crossed, can (and should!) make you concerned. Huge messes, oddly behaving family members, and a pervasive lack of hygiene can be signs of deeper issues, like neglect. You can tell a lot about a family’s situation by simply spending some time in their home.
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, neglect has strong negative short-term and long-term effects on children, including:
- Problems with brain development
- Taking risks, such as running away from home, using substances, or breaking the law
- Getting into dangerous relationships
- Difficulty with relationships later in life, including with their own children
- A higher chance of having mental health problems, including depression
#5
Porcelain dolls. There were a lot of them and they were propped up almost anywhere. On the piano, by the couch, on the dinner table. I was in New Zealand and it my first time going to a white person's house. I thought all white folks loved dolls like they did for a while.
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18points
#6
I posted this the last time it was asked, so I'll share it again...
Definitely has to be my neighbors when I was younger.
I hung out and played with these 3 siblings. They were all pretty normal kids, but the mom seemed kind of clingy.
During the summer we would play outside a lot. Baseball. Hockey. Go carts. Swimming. The norm.
Every single day at about 12, the mom would call the kids back to the house, one at a time. They would have to go inside for about a half hour, then come out and the next kid would go in. Never thought too much about it, until one day I was actually in their house with them and found out why she called them.
She had mandatory cuddle time with each of the kids. They would lay on the couch, and she would spoon them, in the quiet, for about 30 minutes each. Weirdest thing I've ever encountered.
Definitely has to be my neighbors when I was younger.
I hung out and played with these 3 siblings. They were all pretty normal kids, but the mom seemed kind of clingy.
During the summer we would play outside a lot. Baseball. Hockey. Go carts. Swimming. The norm.
Every single day at about 12, the mom would call the kids back to the house, one at a time. They would have to go inside for about a half hour, then come out and the next kid would go in. Never thought too much about it, until one day I was actually in their house with them and found out why she called them.
She had mandatory cuddle time with each of the kids. They would lay on the couch, and she would spoon them, in the quiet, for about 30 minutes each. Weirdest thing I've ever encountered.
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17points
Some of the main signs of neglect, according to the NSPCC, include living in an unsuitable home environment and being left alone for a long time. One housing issue that should set off your inner alarm bells is witnessing a lack of heating.
You should also be concerned if you’re invited over to someone’s home and see signs of poor hygiene, such as kids being dirty and smelly, hungry, and wearing unwashed clothes. It is also worrying if children have the wrong clothing, like no warm clothes for winter.
Other major causes for concern include medical or dental issues, poor language or social skills, regular illnesses or infections, repeated injuries, skin problems, chronic tiredness, untreated injuries, and weight or growth issues.
#7
I once made the mistake in 2004 of accepting an invite to the weird kid at schools house because he said he had just bought GTA San Andreas. This kids parents would openly spit on the floor/carpet of their house. But that wasn't the worst part, their toilet was broken, and when I told him I needed to go, he directed me to his backyard where his dad had dug a 4ft deep hole where him and his family defecated. Needless to say I chose to wait until I got home.
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16points
#8
Picture above the mantle in the main living room of a family's previous dog...with the dog's tail in a display case underneath.
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16points
#9
When I was ~10 I was at my best friend's house and his mom told him to go do a chore or something and he said "no". I was completely shocked and just blurted out "You're allowed to say *no*??". A couple days later he was mad at me because his mom wouldn't take no for an answer anymore and would say "Well, Urist's parents don't let *him* say no".
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15points
Not all neglect is physical. It can be emotional, too.
For example, licensed psychologist Jonice Webb, Ph.D., notes that some of the most common signs of emotional neglect in families include:
- Superficial family conversations
- Unexplained anger or resentment toward parents
- Feelings of emptiness and disappointment when interacting with relatives
- Difficult or interpersonal problems usually ignored
- Siblings competing with each other
- Affection expressed through action and not through words or emotions
- Emotions are seen as taboo
- Feelings of loneliness and isolation
#10
I've posted about this once before.
12 year old me was having dinner at a friend's house. One of the cats was walking around in the dining room table. When it started eating off my plate I (gently) nudged it away. I really like cats and animals in general... I wasn't angry but I didn't want cat spit on my food.
My friend's mom *completely lost it*. She was screaming at me for, and I quote, "interfering with the free choices of another sentient being".
I apologized but she was still yelling...
It was surprising to me because they seemed like a normal suburban family; the house was clean and so on.
12 year old me was having dinner at a friend's house. One of the cats was walking around in the dining room table. When it started eating off my plate I (gently) nudged it away. I really like cats and animals in general... I wasn't angry but I didn't want cat spit on my food.
My friend's mom *completely lost it*. She was screaming at me for, and I quote, "interfering with the free choices of another sentient being".
I apologized but she was still yelling...
It was surprising to me because they seemed like a normal suburban family; the house was clean and so on.
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15points
#11
I was on the opposite end of this.
I had a friend over once and he stuck is hand out and leaned on the wall, and I gently pushed his arm down and said "Don't touch that". He was like, " ... What? The wall?"
I said "Yeah, don't touch the walls. You'll leave fingerprints on it."
I got a dumbstruck stare in return, and it was at that moment that I realized how strange it was that I grew up in a house where we were not allowed to touch the walls.
I had a friend over once and he stuck is hand out and leaned on the wall, and I gently pushed his arm down and said "Don't touch that". He was like, " ... What? The wall?"
I said "Yeah, don't touch the walls. You'll leave fingerprints on it."
I got a dumbstruck stare in return, and it was at that moment that I realized how strange it was that I grew up in a house where we were not allowed to touch the walls.
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13points
#12
Open house.
Palace of a home. Marble countertops, breathtaking country view, 5000 sq feet of luxury
Master bedroom was about 30x30 feet with king sized bed on one side.
At the foot of the bed, aross the room was a raised section of floor about 6x6 feet in size, one step higher than the rest of the room.
In the center of that "podium" was just one thing.
A toilet.
No master bathroom, just a throne on a podium to perch upon while (i presume) your spouse offers words of encouragement and enthusiastic applause.
Edit: interesting to learn this has been seen in other cities. For those asking it was in the suburbs of Toronto Canada.
Palace of a home. Marble countertops, breathtaking country view, 5000 sq feet of luxury
Master bedroom was about 30x30 feet with king sized bed on one side.
At the foot of the bed, aross the room was a raised section of floor about 6x6 feet in size, one step higher than the rest of the room.
In the center of that "podium" was just one thing.
A toilet.
No master bathroom, just a throne on a podium to perch upon while (i presume) your spouse offers words of encouragement and enthusiastic applause.
Edit: interesting to learn this has been seen in other cities. For those asking it was in the suburbs of Toronto Canada.
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12points
When you’ve scrolled through and read the rest of these stories, feel free to join the conversation in the comments.
What are the creepiest, most socially unacceptable, and weirdest things and behaviors that you’ve seen as a guest at someone’s home?
What visits and sleepovers genuinely shocked you so much that they completely changed your relationship with the person?
We want to hear from you.
#13
My daughter's friend lives in complete squalor. It's shocking. I can't imagine living like that. It's really sad. I gave her a set of cream colored sheets a few years ago, and my daughter snapped a pic when she was out of the room to show me. The sheets are now dark brown. Seriously. She hasn't washed her sheets in YEARS.
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12points
#14
I have this friend who has a lot of cats. And with a lot I mean she had at least 11 cats (and two dogs). I'm all about having pets but IMO you need to keep it to a minimum when you have a very small house, which was my friend's case. Now why do I mention this? Well when we were about to have breakfast in her kitchen, she suddenly put two little cat bowls in the middle of the tiny table, filled with wet cat food (so you know it smells bad). Two cats jump up and start eating out their bowls, with their tiny pinkish brown anuses just staring at me, while I tried to ignore the smell and did my best working my breakfast (scrambled eggs) down. Appearently she did so because the whole house already was filled with cat bowls and if the cats got to close to each other while eating they would start fighting. So she deemed the kitchen table a good location. When I finally thought well it can't get worse than this, a chicken jumps up on the chair in front of me. A FREAKIN CHICKEN. It just sat there, joining us at the table. And I swear to God my friend barely looked up. So needless to say I was quite confused and weirded out. My friend though didn't seem to think there was anything wrong or unsanitary about this.
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12points
#15
Old lady in assisted living had at least 100 "antique" toasters stacked and packed everywhere in her 500 sq ft. unit.
On my way out she gave my coworker and I a warm Ensure shake and practically implored that i go to Goodwill and check out their toasters.
On my way out she gave my coworker and I a warm Ensure shake and practically implored that i go to Goodwill and check out their toasters.
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11points
#16
I didn't see this in person, but my apartment building and the two attached units were for sale and there was an open house, so all day I sat with my door open and chatted with strange wealthy people coming in and out. One of them stopped and told me I had the cleanest apartment of the three, which shocked me a little. I asked what the others were like, he said," well...how do I say this... it seems they have about 8 cats that stink like hell, and something that looks like a cereal shrine. There is a table with about 20 cereal boxes in a circle, surrounding a glass pitcher of milk. It's freaky." I never got around to seeing this, but I loved that description.
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11points
#17
My grandpa's house. It had 2 full equipped kitchens.. one next to the other.
It also has a confessional in a room He used as a library.
It also has a confessional in a room He used as a library.
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11points
#18
Whiskey (for cough syrup purposes) on the back porch because it's a sin to have liquor in the house. Saw this on more than one occasion growing up in an extremely Southern Baptist small town.
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11points
#19
Only one garbage in the kitchen and nowhere else. I don't know if that is normal. Maybe I'm not normal but I have a garbage can in many rooms in my house and would never think of not having one in the bathroom. If you want to be accommodating to female guests you should have a garbage in your bathroom. I don't want to carry feminine hygiene products down to the kitchen in front of everyone...
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11points
#20
Their doorbell was rigged to make a Chinese gong strike by means of an electro-pneumatic hammer. You could hear it throughout the large house - even in the backyard during a summer BBQ.
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11points