Weird habits of the house/houseguest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not particularly weird, but I’m not a fan of situations where the host asks you to remove shoes and there’s no advance warning that it’s a shoe-free house and no provision of slippers. From cold feet, to holey socks, to athlete’s foot, there are a lot of reasons why some of us are more comfortable with shoes on and need some sort of heads-up if we must remove them.

That’s a reflection more on you than on them. Don’t wear socks with holes, and clean/treat your damn feet! It shouldn’t be a matter of concern to take your shoes off!

Ugh, I hate sanctimonious people like you. I have plantar fasciitis. I need to wear shoes. Give some warning so I won’t come. I don’t want to hang out with loonies like you anyway.

Plantar fasciitis is a lame excuse. I had it and my house is a no shoes house as are the homes of many of my friends. Yes the planter fasciitis was painful but it was painful whether I was wearing shoes or not. Actually what I found the most helpful were Isotoner ballet slippers so I just kept a pair with me when I would go visit friends.

That said, while we are a no shoes home, if we are entertaining we do not ask people to take off their shoes and some do and some don’t.

[Anonymous]

My MIL keeps a small plastic bowl on a windowsill in her kitchen for trash. It is so difficult to figure out what the heck to do with trash when our family visits. They don’t have a garbage disposal either. I just started packing our own trash bags.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My MIL keeps a small plastic bowl on a windowsill in her kitchen for trash. It is so difficult to figure out what the heck to do with trash when our family visits. They don’t have a garbage disposal either. I just started packing our own trash bags.

We don't have a garbage disposal. Putting food down the drain is dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's 2019, and you live near DC. Assume that if you are going to a household where at least one adult is of Asian descent, you will have to remove your shoes. Get over it. I prepare for all kinds of cultural differences when I go to white people's homes...

I agree with you.

NP and genuinely curious: how do you prepare for cultural differences in white people's homes? (Just curious for the perspective that I might not be aware of.)

NP, but my husband and I always eat before visiting our white friends. We know it's likely that we won't like the food, they won't serve food, or they'll serve something weird to eat at a party like soup.

When we host parties and we know some of our white friends will be coming, we tell them a different time to show up because we don't want them showing up hours before everyone else. We also choose a more "palatable" playlist that won't make them uncomfortable, and we set up a quiet space because they frequently complain that the party is too loud. Conversely, we think it's weird to throw a party with no music, no food, and everyone sitting in a circle staring at one another.

White, this is sad but true. Music makes a party!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let's hear some more weird habits! When I was a teenager I was learning about saving water. So at a friends house, I tried out the following thinking I was being respectful.

I would turn the water on, get my hair wet. turn it off, shampoo. Turn on rinse. Turn off and condition. Repeat this for soap, etc. . My friends Thought there was bizarre and had taken like 5 diffent showers.


NP

This was exactly how my dad always said we should shower, but we didn't and he did not go so far as to turn off the H2O heater when we had the shower running too long--something I actually would not have put him past doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My MIL keeps a small plastic bowl on a windowsill in her kitchen for trash. It is so difficult to figure out what the heck to do with trash when our family visits. They don’t have a garbage disposal either. I just started packing our own trash bags.

Is she one of those people who produces 1.5 pounds of garbage every 10 years?

But I keep an empty tuna can on my counter for the bits that the sink strainer collects (no garbage disposal) and then empty into the garbage from it, to avoid dumping the wet bits into the trash from the dishcloth.

Also, when I wash clothes I put the plastic cap used to measure the liquid detergent (firmly opposed to pods and would actually buy dry laundry detergent if I didn't have to drive miles to a big box store to find it) in the machine. Not only uses all the detergent but avoid the dribbles of laundry detergent on the container.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Car food is a natural laxative

Meant cat food

car?? cat?? laxative?? is this about the 5 sheets of TP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a no shoes house and I just want to say, to all those who are worried about the state of their feet - I don't look at anyone's feet or socks or anything. I want shoes off because I think it's unhygienic, and almost everyone who comes to our house just takes their shoes off automatically as they see the shoes by the door. If you have a good reason to wear shoes then that's fine, but I really don't care if someone hasn't had a pedicure or has a hole in their sock.

How do you handle people who usually walk around barefooted outside, and slip sandals or shoes on only to drive somewhere?

I'm puzzled about hygiene as the reason for no shoes, as opposed to floor/rug maintenance. I suspect that socks or bare feet are not much of a hygienic improvement over the bottoms of shoes, and arguably worse. Unless you issue sterile booties at the door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I once stayed at a friend's house on an island in Maine where there was no electricity other than a generator. They had indoor plumbing and an outhouse, but you were expected to use the outhouse during daylight hours. With the inside toilet, you flushed only for #2. Showers were limited and if you took one, you had to turn the water on only while getting wet or rinsing off. It was different...but made me realize how wasteful our creature comforts can be sometimes.

This reminds me of staying with friends of my parents who had a boat - like a 40ft thing with a couple of cabins. They had a rule that you could only use 5 pieces of toilet paper at a time. It was fine... and I understand that the plumbing on ships is different.. but I did worry about what would happen if I really needed more!

Omg if I was restricted to 5 pieces of toilet paper I would have turned around and left immediately. No way that would fly in my world!

You can’t clean yourself with just a square or two? What kind of excrement do you have?

+1

I don’t understand these people who clog toilets and use a half roll to clean themselves. I don’t have huge no.2s

Oh right! If you don’t, then clearly nobody does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a no shoes house and I just want to say, to all those who are worried about the state of their feet - I don't look at anyone's feet or socks or anything. I want shoes off because I think it's unhygienic, and almost everyone who comes to our house just takes their shoes off automatically as they see the shoes by the door. If you have a good reason to wear shoes then that's fine, but I really don't care if someone hasn't had a pedicure or has a hole in their sock.

How do you handle people who usually walk around barefooted outside, and slip sandals or shoes on only to drive somewhere?

I'm puzzled about hygiene as the reason for no shoes, as opposed to floor/rug maintenance. I suspect that socks or bare feet are not much of a hygienic improvement over the bottoms of shoes, and arguably worse. Unless you issue sterile booties at the door.

I'm not going for a totally sterile environment, but I assume that people's feet and socks are cleaner than the ground outside, which has animal excrement on it, and whatever else

[Anonymous]

My aunt is a designer and her house (she has no kids!) looks like a staged home at all times. If you stay with her you have to make your bed every day with the zillion pillows and throws she has on there (and she will redo it because you will do it wrong - the throw has to have a certain number of folds, etc), squeegee the shower so no water remains on it, wipe down basins in bathroom and kitchen after use, polish faucets, etc. She does these things automatically herself and maintains it is no big deal to do. Obviously as her guest I do whatever she asks but when I go home I'm relieved to go back to normal life. She also thinks my tidy and clean house, by any normal standards, is super messy and gross!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL keeps a small plastic bowl on a windowsill in her kitchen for trash. It is so difficult to figure out what the heck to do with trash when our family visits. They don’t have a garbage disposal either. I just started packing our own trash bags.

Is she one of those people who produces 1.5 pounds of garbage every 10 years?

But I keep an empty tuna can on my counter for the bits that the sink strainer collects (no garbage disposal) and then empty into the garbage from it, to avoid dumping the wet bits into the trash from the dishcloth.

Also, when I wash clothes I put the plastic cap used to measure the liquid detergent (firmly opposed to pods and would actually buy dry laundry detergent if I didn't have to drive miles to a big box store to find it) in the machine. Not only uses all the detergent but avoid the dribbles of laundry detergent on the container.

Can you not just freehand it? I have not measured detergent in years (and you need so little--like half of what the cup measures--I had a laundry sink for years that let me watch the water draining. It was still soapy during the rinse cycle unless i used very little).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL keeps a small plastic bowl on a windowsill in her kitchen for trash. It is so difficult to figure out what the heck to do with trash when our family visits. They don’t have a garbage disposal either. I just started packing our own trash bags.

Is she one of those people who produces 1.5 pounds of garbage every 10 years?

But I keep an empty tuna can on my counter for the bits that the sink strainer collects (no garbage disposal) and then empty into the garbage from it, to avoid dumping the wet bits into the trash from the dishcloth.

Also, when I wash clothes I put the plastic cap used to measure the liquid detergent (firmly opposed to pods and would actually buy dry laundry detergent if I didn't have to drive miles to a big box store to find it) in the machine. Not only uses all the detergent but avoid the dribbles of laundry detergent on the container.

Can you not just freehand it? I have not measured detergent in years (and you need so little--like half of what the cup measures--I had a laundry sink for years that let me watch the water draining. It was still soapy during the rinse cycle unless i used very little).

I've never tried freehand (I think I'd be worried about too much) but I like the way you think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My MIL keeps a small plastic bowl on a windowsill in her kitchen for trash. It is so difficult to figure out what the heck to do with trash when our family visits. They don’t have a garbage disposal either. I just started packing our own trash bags.

Is she one of those people who produces 1.5 pounds of garbage every 10 years?

But I keep an empty tuna can on my counter for the bits that the sink strainer collects (no garbage disposal) and then empty into the garbage from it, to avoid dumping the wet bits into the trash from the dishcloth.

Also, when I wash clothes I put the plastic cap used to measure the liquid detergent (firmly opposed to pods and would actually buy dry laundry detergent if I didn't have to drive miles to a big box store to find it) in the machine. Not only uses all the detergent but avoid the dribbles of laundry detergent on the container.

Can you not just freehand it? I have not measured detergent in years (and you need so little--like half of what the cup measures--I had a laundry sink for years that let me watch the water draining. It was still soapy during the rinse cycle unless i used very little).

I haven't measured coffee grounds in years, either. So freeing.

I've never tried freehand (I think I'd be worried about too much) but I like the way you think.

[Anonymous]

omg ^^ I am a DCUM mess. Was trying to tell you I don't measure coffee grounds either.