We all have some gross personal habits, if we’re honest enough to admit them. We may smack our gum, or belch when (we think) no one’s listening; we may even dig for nasal gold once in a while when the winter crusties are upon us and a tissue just won’t cut it. But nothing—nothing—can come close to the gross habits of those we live with. They are, unequivocally, far worse.
A recent work debate about the correct order in which to floss one’s teeth (there are those who say the gunk must be flossed first, then brushed away; others—who are wrong—contend that you must floss after brushing, or else you are “simply moving that same gunk right back into place”) led us to a shocking revelation from one among us: “Anything is fine, so long as you don’t do what [this person I once lived with] did. They walked around the house while flossing, and after each tooth ATE the little bit of gunk on the floss. Sometimes looking at it first. Floss, nibble, floss, nibble.”
Needless to say, many a gag-faced vomit emoji followed, interlaced with: “JESUS,” “NO,” and “I’m trying to eat, people.” Suddenly, the toenails my husband aggregates on the coffee table after clipping them didn’t seem so bad.
Living with someone lets you see the good, the bad, the hairy, the smelly, and the egregiously sweaty. With so many horrifyingly entertaining anecdotes surfacing in one brief chat, we now turn to you, Lifehacker readers, to help us compile the most comprehensive list of gross personal (hygiene) habits that probably made you gasp. Or cringe. Or make you reconsider the entire relationship.
Give us your hairy, your loud knuckle-cracking, your leaving-used-tissues-all-over-the-place—we’ll round up the best war stories in a future post so we can all feel less alone in the funk.