AskReddit recently answered the question, “You were invited to someone’s home for the first time. What shocked or surprised you about their lifestyle?”
Thousands of contributors answered, and their responses did not disappoint. They varied from gross, sad, and scary to hysterical. Here’s 25 of the best responses.
1. When your friend may be a vampire
“It’s pretty tame in comparison to the rest of these stories, but it took me like three visits to my friend’s house before I realized they didn’t have any mirrors. Still not sure if it’s a deliberate choice or what the deal is, but it’s kinda weird to me.”
2. Ewe
“My school friend lived on a farm in Wales. The first time I went round, a sheep ran down the stairs as we were going in through the front door. There was also a newborn baby lamb warming in the Aga because it was struggling to stay alive.”
3. Out of sink
“He accidentally broke a plate when he was doing dishes & his dad didn’t scream at him or hit him or threaten to ground him or anything. The first thing his dad said was to ask my friend if he was hurt. Shouldn’t be shocking, but to me it was.”
“When I went over to my friend’s house she broke a glass getting it out of the cabinet. I told her that I would take the blame, that she could just tell her mom and dad that I broke it and it was my fault. My logic was that they wouldn’t hit another person’s child and I would just be banned from their house. She was just confused and told her mom, who swept it up and said to be more careful.”
4. “There’s probably just a skunk outside…”
“My wife said her aunt’s house used to smell funny, and she didn’t realize it was weed until she started hanging out with me.”
5. Smoke recovery
“I was raised in a home of chain smokers and hated it. It has been decades but I literally remember walking up the stairs at college (maybe a year in) and smelling something..refreshing? and realising it was clean air in my nose. I had perpetual respiratory infections as a kid. One time the doctor asked my mother about smoking and merely mentioned maybe they shouldn’t smoke around me. She screamed at me all the way home.”
6. Haven’t yacht a clue
“Was invited to a friends house in high school and that’s when I learned that his parents weren’t just well off like mine were, they were fucking loaded. His house was not a house, it was a compound. They had the main house, a pool house (where he lived), a casita (where his older sister lived), and a club house.
They had an 8 car garage AND a yacht garage, with their goddamn yacht in it at the time. Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough they had water way that ran in front of their house which meant they had a bridge over which was an honest to fuck draw bridge.”
7. Wooden it be nice
“My brother-in-law is a woodworker as a hobby. I knew it was very important to him, but when I actually went to his house …
The whole entire house except for bedroom and bathrooms, he converted into one giant woodworking studio.”
8. Nightmare-inducing
“Fully clothed, positioned and posed mannequins all throughout their entire home. Posed to watch television, sat at dinning table, holding wine glasses ect…very strange.”
9. “You don’t have to live like a refugee”
“When I was a little kid we had new neighbors move in, they were Korean. They didn’t speak any English at first and the twin daughters were in my brother’s class. By the end of the school year their English was decent enough to communicate and actually play with the rest of us.
They invited me over to hang out and their Mom was making some snacks. She handed me a bowl of rice with some type of sweet potato, and one of the twins told me that back in Korea, that’s all they had to eat in a day, and now they could have that for a snack.
I was too little then to realize it, but they were North Korean. Their growth was severely stunted, and they had moved in with essentially strangers after they made it to the US. I learned all this years later when I talked to my Mom about it, apparently the people who took them in were part of a Korean church and semi regularly took in North Korean refugees.”
10. Red-trograde
“All the lights of the house were red, because some astrologer told them it was good for them.”
– SuvenPan
11. Fools’ mold
“The first time I stepped into the house, it was like stepping into a black room. I could see patches of colour on the walls but the house walls were basically charred coloured. Didn’t think too much of it at the time but at one point I was bored and alone and took a closer look at the charred walls and discovered that it wasn’t burnt,
It was MOLD. Dude was living in a Mold infested house. When I went home, I took the longest shower I ever took and washed my clothes there and then. Felt like I’ve just walked into a radioactive area.”
12. Christmas, all year long
“They were a Jewish couple. They also had a Christmas tree up year round that had been professionally decorated so they did not want to take it down. It was just there. All year. In fairness, it was a nice tree!”
“My best friend in high school was living with hoarder parents who would leave the Christmas tree up all year round and only replaced it the week before Christmas. They even left last year’s presents on the fireplace almost all year. It was better than my home so I just kind of adapted.”
13. The restraint
“When the kids mouthed off, their dad would handcuff their hands behind their back and they would have to eat dinner like dogs.
I was like 9 or 10 at the time, didn’t realize at the time the kids were being abused, just figured “yer dad sucks.”
14. Forlone soap
“No soap in the bathroom. You’re telling me that you poop, wipe your butt, don’t wash your hands, and then cook or eat food. Never hung out with that person again.”
“I went over to a guy’s apartment and he had no toilet paper. He said if he poops then he just showers if he has time.”
16. Island in the stream
“I grew up in a very secluded mountainous area of West Virginia. I once knew a family who built their home over a small stream that they used for a water supply. It was dirt floors with the stream running through the middle of the home.”
17. Can we feed the slave?
“They were very open about their bdsm lifestyle. Which is a thing in itself. But different when you go over for dinner and there’s a sex slave in a cage and sex toys every where.”
18. Sparce cabinents
“Went over to friends for a birthday. Was warned they were ordering takeout because they don’t cook. Got there and they had no dishes or pots or pans. No glasses. No coffee cups. Literally none. The kitchen cabinets were full of random things like a Pictionary game and some batteries and spare light bulbs. Disposable plates. A drawer full of plastic spoons and forks.”
“I’ve been to rich peoples homes where they’re rich enough that they just eat at restaurants daily and even they had pots/pans/plates/cutlery. Virtually untouched in the cabinets, but it was there.
They said they have it just in case they want to get a private chef in the future for “home cooked meals.”
19. Reptile disfunction
“When I was about 11 or 12 I was invited to hang out with my brother and his friend at his friend’s house. We were there for about an hour when I asked to use the bathroom and when they told me where it was they said to be careful. I didn’t know why at first but it then became apparent. They kept their pet iguana in the bathroom. No cage. Just chilling on the sink. To this day I still have questions.”
20. Weight in
“Went to a friends house for dinner. We were both 12. I thought it was odd to see a bathroom scale beside the table. I was shocked to learn that his parents made him weigh himself before and after each meal and would chastise him if his weight wasn’t acceptable.”
– m1shmc
21. New world hoarder
“When I was younger I was invited to a friend’s house for a sleepover
When I got there, the house was absolutely filled to the brim with toys, trash, etc. Think of one of the hoarder’s episodes but organized… slightly. And this was a shock to me because they seemed so clean and organized outside, and even the outside of the house was clean. They didn’t really have beds, just a bunch of clothes and stuffed animals piled together on the mattress in the middle of trash and random items where they slept. I didn’t go back for another sleepover. I think the mother had an extreme hoarding problem and it rubbed onto her children.”
“Met this girl at work and really clicked. We had kids around the same age so she invited us over for a play date. First off – her house was hoarder level disgusting and absolutely filthy. I didn’t want to even stay inside so suggested we go out in the backyard which was overgrown and a mosquito haven. Second – she didn’t just talk to her kids, she was always screaming. It was hard to differentiate if she was angry or just giving instructions. The kids just tuned her out but mine were terrified. Never, ever again.”
“The first girl I dated while in college had her own house (which I thought was super awesome considering she was only 2 years older than me). It was absolutely filthy. Not just garbage everywhere but just random stuff laying around and zero organization. She was definitely a hoarder. We broke up after about a month but a few years later hooked up again and her house was waaay better. I’m glad it wasn’t a permanent thing for her.”
– TheW83
22. Give me a break
“My friend was like, “Want a Kit-Kat?” I said sure. He proceeded to unwrap the candy bar, set it on a plate, and then put it in the microwave until the chocolate had melted off the wafers. I was freaked out and said I don’t need mine microwaved. He looked shocked and said, “You eat them raw?!””
– billyslits‘
23. Screaming silence
“Absolutely no talking during dinner. Very uncomfortable.”
24. Sisterly affection
“He kissed his sister on her mouth and kept flirting with her.”
25. Minimalists
“First time meeting my exs parents. Walked in and nothing was on the walls. No art no pictures nothing whole houe just bare walls and not like nice panels or anything, like regular middle class home painted walls they also had 0 stuff out. Nothing on the counter, had a coffee table nothing on it corner table nothing on it. It was all just empty, im still not entirely convinced they werent all aliens trying to fit in.”
