social norms – Live Laugh Love Do http://livelaughlovedo.com A Super Fun Site Wed, 03 Dec 2025 19:07:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 75 Things People Thought Were A Flex But Aren’t http://livelaughlovedo.com/entertainment/75-things-people-thought-were-a-flex-but-they-actually-arent/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/entertainment/75-things-people-thought-were-a-flex-but-they-actually-arent/#respond Wed, 27 Aug 2025 05:07:12 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/08/27/75-things-people-thought-were-a-flex-but-they-actually-arent/ [ad_1]

Shirtless man at the beach applying sunscreen, illustrating things people thought were a flex but aren’t. My cousin once bragged that he had never used sunscreen in his life. Said it with total pride like he was invincible, while peeling like a lobster on vacation. lmao.

SnTnL95 , Kindel Media Report

Person wearing headphones and a patterned shirt, enjoying music with eyes closed, illustrating things people thought were a flex. A manager of a different department to me prided herself on being crazy busy all the time. She proudly told me she hasn’t listened to music in 15 years because she doesn’t have time. I asked if she has a radio in her car and she said she turns it off. I said, what about in supermarkets where they play background music, she said she tunes it out and ignores it. This conversation was about 12 years ago and I’m still so confused.

sl0wl0rris , José Lugo Report

Man with glasses reading a book at a wooden table, focusing on study with flex accessories nearby and notes on the side “I don’t read” the guy actually thought this made him cool. I followed the question with “not even magazine articles?” This was right before smartphones completely took over. I was in shock. Still am. He made it sound like he goes out of his way to avoid reading. Like he likes to be willfully ignorant of all things that feed the brain. Maybe I’m a snob, but I can’t get behind that. At the very least, maybe read a shampoo bottle when you poop!

ladydrybones , Tima Miroshnichenko Report

Man working late at desk with books and coffee, illustrating things people thought were a flex but actually aren’t. “I worked 80 hours last week” 

A guy at my salaried job. .

Kronzor_ Report

Child focused on writing homework at a wooden table, illustrating common misconceptions about things people thought were a flex. I’ve said this before and it was popular, so I’ll say it again. Anyone who bragged about not getting good grades.

AlcatK , Annie Spratt Report

My mom used to brag that she stayed in an a*****e relationship because she didn’t want to be a “homie hopper” and women should stay loyal to one man and one man only

Anyways, the guy stabbed her and almost k**led her in 2016.

krill_krill_krill Report

Empty classroom desks and chairs with old papers and bulletin boards in the background, illustrating common flex misconceptions. My neighbors across the street. A mom, her daughter, and 2 grandkids. She was pissed because the school was sending the police due to her granddaughters missing too many days.

‘I didnt finish high school and neither did my daughter, and we turned out fine!’

No, you didnt. You have 4 people in a 2 bedroom house that’s falling apart and no car between the 4 of you. She was ranting about this while I was giving her a ride across town, because we are nice people and would occasionally help them.

handandfoot8099 , Feliphe Schiarolli Report

Does this count? I had a boss who would call my handwriting ugly and chicken scratch. She thought she had the “authority” to say it because she won an award for her handwriting, which she bragged about almost once a week. Eventually, I learned that the award she won was from Grade 3……………….. Girly was in her 70s!

honeysaliva Report

Guy hitting on me at a bar in Los Angeles asked me what I did. Told him I was a 2nd year at UC Berkeley Law.

He guffawed in my face and said “I was just in a national PEDIGREE commercial.” Pedigree as in dog food.

Brilliant-Living-912 Report

I know this person who has these giant bicep muscles. Him and his partner would always brag how they’re the biggest in the area. But honestly, they look ridiculous. Like someone jammed toddler head into his arm, they’re huge. But it’s not proportional to the rest of his body. I went home and had a good cackle with my husband about it.

CrabbiestAsp Report

Man and child walking on the beach at sunset, illustrating moments people thought were a flex but actually aren’t. My ex boss said he doesn’t even know the name of his son or how old he exactly is. He’s married, his son and wife live in the same house. He’s just a d**k.

StopthinkingitsMe , Tim Mossholder Report

An old guy that I used to work with used to say all the time….I’ve smoked for 52 years…since I was 13.

surveyor2004 Report

My ex brother in law, when we first met him, said he had a file of Domestic Violence charges as thick as a phonebook.

That was a miserable 4 years.

Slabby_the_Baconman Report

I’ve shared this before somewhere else, but I feel like it fits.

I used to work in a library that was in a v deprived area. Local kids would hang out there cos there wasn’t really anywhere else for them to go. They had to have a library card to do that, and we kept a list of their parents/guardians to call if things got rowdy, which they often did.

One time these 2 kids were causing trouble after closing time, wouldn’t leave, were throwing furniture around and yelling in our faces. I told them we were going to call their parents, one of them turned around and said triumphantly “HA! I don’t even HAVE any parents!”

She did have grandparents though, who were pretty pissed when they heard what she’d been up to.

can_u_tell_its_me Report

” I ordered over 200,000 dollars in chicken, do you know how much chicken that is “

Me : “wow”

For context i was a manager at a strip club and these high rollers owned a very succesful chain of meat markets.

delusionunleashed Report

When I worked and lived in South Korea, I came across a guy from the US who proudly claimed that he had been living there for over five years and “I’ve never tried Korean food, not even once.”

Sir, why did you even choose to come to Korea?

Meanwhile, I ate Korean food regularly and discovered brand new favourites – some of which I still seek out at Korean restaurants here in Canada.

buckyhermit Report

I always thought “we work hard, we play hard” was a weird flex bc literally everyone I’ve known who said this worked ungodly hours to the point they had no outside life, and the ‘play hard’ part just meant that when they did get off work, they would drink themselves into oblivion with their coworkers, who were pretty much the only people they had any contact with.

Iloilocity1 Report

Silhouette of a person standing in front of a large fire, illustrating things people thought were a flex but actually aren’t. “I’ve had all degrees of burns.” In college, my husband was loitering in a hallway waiting for his class to open and was standing near a girl and a guy. Girls hands are both wrapped in gauze and the guy asks why. She says she has second degree burns on her hands and had to wrap them up. Then he very confidently comes out with “yeah, well I’ve had all degrees of burns” as the ultimate story top. It is said frequently around my home to this day and is a part of our family vocabulary.

Penguinofmyspirit , Adam Wilson Report

Pregnant woman standing by a crib in a softly lit nursery, symbolizing things people thought were a flex but aren’t. “I smoked through all five of my pregnancies and my kids turned out fine.”

My boss, when I was pregnant and explaining why I didn’t want to sit on the dock and smoke anymore.

JustBeeThatsIt , Ömürden Cengiz Report

I had a coworker once who bragged that he has cheated on every girl he ever had. Dude was definitely a d****e.

Technical_Contact836 Report

I once walked out of the grocery store to see a guy leaning against this beautiful electric blue mustang, hitting on some girls and flexing on his ride and how hard he worked to get it and how he could take them for a spin in it if they’d agree to go on a date with him.

It was my mustang. I set the alarm off and just watched the panic from a distance.

LawyerPrincess93 Report

A couple of weeks ago, a mother of 4 was talking and goes,

“I took their pacifiers away really early, and if they sucked their thumb, I just spanked em! None of them suck their thumb now!”

She was beaming with pride, and at that moment, I realized why when she called any of the girls, they instantly ran over. As a young parent, I’m not here to judge your parenting style, but at the same time, beating behavior out of your kid isnt the flex you think it is.

ItsAlkron Report

I’m always weirded out by old folk at work who will proudly tell you that they don’t know how to use computers properly. That they’ve never learned to use Excel or whatever. Well done, you’re s**t at your job. I’m no spring chicken but I’ve tried very hard over the years to keep a bit up to date.

deformedfishface Report

My brother in law has bragged to me several times about the eye doctor saying he has the strongest eyelids she has ever dealt with.

dadbodNC Report

“You’re allergic to shellfish? Psh, so am I but I don’t let it stop me.” Then the guy proceeds to down four or five shrimp.

Imma throw in here I’ve been severely allergic for a couple years, he’d just found out and at first it was just mild skin irritation and a scratchy throat.

Glad I had a back up epi and knew how to use it, exposing himself the way he had been had made the allergy so much worse. Still took him to the ER and stayed with him till they got him unshrimped lol.

Ravenous_Orca_ Report

“I can name all the Disney princesses“ (from a 45 yr old man).

He’s married but has no kids. And he said it with a straight face. Not the slightest bit of sarcasm. Just wanted to let people know.

Solid-Refrigerator52 Report

I have a coworker in his 60s who brags about fights he won in elementary school. Like, watch out, we got a bada*s over here.

Imaginary_Sky_2987 Report

“I don’t use my PTO” soooo you’re working for free basically? Weird flex but ok (we get X amount of days off that don’t roll over or pay out).

feelinlikejericho Report

Dude I knew used to brag about how he keeps his car super clean because he washes it every weekend in front of his house.

turns out he tried starting up a car washing business and it went under. He has like five years worth of cleaning supplies that he’s trying to get through. That’s why he cleans his car all the time.

LuckyCod2887 Report

On TikTok, there are dudes bragging about working 100hrs a week only to make like 10k a month, which, when you do the math, is a wage of only around $18/hr.

CaffeinatedLystro Report

“I have kids, I’ve passed on my genetic code” – my brother bragging to me whilst being jobless, owing thousands in child support, and barely seeing his kids.

Bevrykul Report

I once heard a guy brag about how he can recite the entire alphabet backwards while doing a handstand. I mean, that’s impressive, but also very specific for a party trick.

coremarksmanqueen Report

A former flatmate of mine claimed he was very eco-conscious and thrifty, and for that reason, he very rarely used the washing machine and only needed one paper toilet roll a month.

For context, he was trying to justify a 5€ discount on the flatmates’ shared expenses – after 8 months of never spending a dime on them nor doing anything for the flat.

GiantFlyingPumpkin Report

“i dont like your father but i stay with him for you”

every professional ive spoken to and the rest of my family all agree that my parents shouldve split up because they treat eachother and me like absolute a*s.

Preindustrialcyborg Report

“I don’t take sick days; I just come to work and do my job”. We work in education, funny how he isn’t here post 2021. But you know.. we have years of whole classes getting sick to look back on.

ElkZealousideal1824 Report

Guy in front of me got stopped at customs and said very loudly and very slowly to the agent: “I am an international businessman.”

This was 20 years ago and I think of it weekly. No actual international businessman has ever described themselves that way.

ProudTacoman Report

“I was a virgin before I got here. Since then I’ve had s*x with like 20 girls.” Freshman friend of my college roommate. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was still a virgin and given my roommate and his other friends reaction, they probably thought so too.

BlackDante Report

“I dont love my wife but she thinks I do. Overall I dont have feelings for people”. He did not say this as it was a problem, but proud of it.

Independent_Lead6535 Report

“I have a bachelor degree in psychology. As your friend I just want to help you and you seriously need a visit to the psych ward since I suspect you’re borderline personality disorder.”

I was stunned by this person and her claims (only a clinical psychologist can confirm formal diagnosis if borderline personality disorder or any other diagnoses . I asked her politely why and she told me that I was having severe identity issues. I told her I knew who I was. She was very upset and we needed help(ironic) but we didn’t get it. Oh well. Luckily she did GET PROFESSIONAL help and I don’t have borderline personality disorder.

saurusautismsoor Report

I once had a classmate brag that he could rotate molecules in his head faster than another student. We were all chemistry majors. 🙄.

TragicaDeSpell Report

A friend of mine said she was proud of convincing her nephew out of applying for high school.

TinfoilI Report

A co-worker once told me he got a police ‘escort’ out of his previous job for threatening to k**l his boss. He then made a mic drop motion with his hand followed by a little gotcha style laugh. This was in response to our boss walking by our work station without saying hello.

Zschaus1 Report

Sister in law brags about how hard it is to get her blood drawn. Was especially proud when the cancer infusion people had to help her once. Like why is that a good thing, it sounds awful.

pitcher13 Report

Working at a call center for a local medical group. Kind of a sad place with cubicles that were three feet wide and the walls went all the way up to the ceiling.

The woman I was shadowing was proudly telling me that today was her tenth anniversary with the company, and as a reward she got an additional paid day off. So if I work hard, I could have FOUR paid days off in ten years.

The only job I straight up walked out of.

Zenthoor Report

“I went to college!”

This was said to me with indignation by a customer at a Barnes & Noble as part of a tantrum when I, an employee, kindly asked that he be careful reading a book (that he didn’t pay for) in our cafe while drinking the coffee I just handed him.

ThingCalledLight Report

My exes terrible step dad moved their family into the worst neighborhood in town and told me directly “I moved my family here because this is where I grew up and look how good I turned out”

I mean the guy was well off. He was a foreman of a construction company. Well paid.

I guess he wanted me to ignore the 12 years of federal prison for armed robbery and attempted murder 🤷.

Jibbies92 Report

Older gent, engineer. I don’t share info with anyone incase they know more than me and steal my job. What an idiot. .

TumbleweedNegative29 Report

I work in mental health care. on my first day two people turned their noses up at me for working in admin because they were both counsellors, and then one of them bragged about not being able to meditate because her “thoughts just go too fast”. congratulations you will be horrible to your patients and either disorganised or really stressed out? well done? I would never want to receive treatment from someone that puts someone down for doing a different job to them?

goatislove Report

My mom’s husband who is mid to late 40s was bragging to my sister that he made a $3500 commission as a realtor. Now that would be impressive right except he was previously an engineer making 6 figures and refused to accept any salary less than 150k so now he’s a real estate agent. Also that was the only commission he made in 8 months. He’s also the kind of guy who tells people if you work hard enough you can be a millionaire, poor people choose to be poor. .

Pitiful_Ad4218 Report

Years ago I went to a Mexican restaurant with my cousins. One of them starts mouthing off to the waitress because she forgot his sour cream. His equally-annoying brother tries to flirt with the waitress like “I’m not a p***y and I can eat Mexican food without sour cream”. He pauses so the Mexican waitress can congratulate him but she just goes (sigh) “ok”.

blart_institute Report

One day during my Masters program, my friends and I were discussing the dorm bathroom setup. One of my hall-mates shared that when she had to go in the middle of the night, she preferred peeing into a Ziploc bag and dropping it out of her third floor window into the dumpster directly below. I’ve never heard a table get shocked into silence so quickly.

nstau16 Report

Last place I worked had a woman who bragged about having the most sick time and not using it. But would come in sick and work then complain when people would call out because they got sick.

zappyface1 Report

A friend said this: “My mom flies her housemaid in business class with her so she doesn’t have to carry any luggage, even her handbag.”

Im from India, and her mom travels to like 10 countries a year, lol.

DrunKeN-HaZe_e Report

“there was a couple in the shop setting up monthly payments for their pram, they must have looked at us, young couple, nice car and been jealous we just bought the pram outright” – my brother, leaving out a very important part… He was given the money to buy the pram by his in laws, it wasn’t his money. Also my parents bought his car 🙃.

anniestandingngai Report

Someone describing themselves as a “Hardcore vaper”.

Don’t brag about being an a****t.

Loki-L Report

“I’m such a good liar. You won’t believe the things I’ve said that people believe.”

We were at work. And Yes, they had a Sales role.

cgulash Report

“I went to school on Halloween dressed as The Crow. Not Eric Draven from the movie but the character from my fanfic.” -that person was me.

milesamsterdam Report

“I make the best kool aid. “ she was so proud at the age of close to 60. I said what do you use? “Two cups of sugar per package. “. Ugh.

laabeja Report

“I just tell it like it is. I ain’t gonna hold nothin’ back. I don’t give a f**k what anybody thinks.”

-Redneck flex.

Okay, you have no grace, no decorum and no concern about the feelings of others.

Utterlybored Report

A boss at my old job once told me he’d “never let his wife ride the bus.”

First, congratulations on owning a car.  Second, what, does she have to ask you to leave the house?  Are you not married to an adult who can make her own decisions?

GreyGriffin_h Report

My one college roommate and I had like a 10 minute conversation when he claimed his s**t didn’t stink. I laughed at first because I thought it was a joke based on the popular idiom, but no, as he continued talking I realized he really, genuinely, thought his s**t didn’t stink. 

As a roommate, you learn things about people you sometimes wish you didn’t. But I can verify, his s**t didn’t not stink. .

Alarmed-Owl2 Report

This dude I worked with a while ago would come into work every Monday with a new story about how he survived some 50 mph motorcycle accident or gotten into a huge fight. Like dude you just sound like an unstable liar.

Mountain-jew87 Report

Not necessarily a flex but a guy from another company called me and said “my name is ‘von something’ and I insist on the ‘von’ “.

Needless to say everyone at my work kept calling him just ‘something’.

Rd_Svn Report

Me, an adult, visiting a friend whose cousin (also both adults) was also there. I said something and used “google” like a verb and the cousin yelled, “WE BING IN THIS HOUSE,” like he was scolding a child. I laughed but he yelled it again louder.

i_ama_raccoon Report

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What’s a Normal Human Behavior That Gives You the Ick? http://livelaughlovedo.com/relationships/whats-a-normal-human-behavior-that-gives-you-the-ick/ http://livelaughlovedo.com/relationships/whats-a-normal-human-behavior-that-gives-you-the-ick/#respond Sun, 29 Jun 2025 00:01:15 +0000 http://livelaughlovedo.com/2025/06/29/whats-a-normal-human-behavior-that-gives-you-the-ick/ [ad_1]


Listen, did we have a little TOO MUCH FUN ranting about our various icks? Maybe so. And now you can have some fun with us, too, delving into the various things that give us pause, squick us out, and just straight up annoy or piss us off. Also, hopefully this goes without saying, but we’re mostly having silly good fun here! Don’t take it too seriously! And please, tell us YOUR icks! Let it all out!


I believe it was the great Frank Sinatra who said “icks? I’ve had a few.” Here are some of my icks, in no particular order: Has school spirit. Asks “how spicy is it?” (SPICE IS SUBJECTIVE. I NEED TO KNOW YOUR PERSONAL THRESHOLD FIRST. THE SAME GOES FOR ASKING HOW “SCARY” SOMETHING IS. IDK TELL ME WHAT SCARES YOU FIRST AND THEN MAYBE I CAN HELP). Knows too much about the stock market. Works in finance. Is a consultant. Tells me I won’t know the difference between vegan cheese and cheese. “I don’t read poetry” (This ick is specific to fiction writers). References viral TikToks in conversation too much. Describes a TikTok instead of just showing me. Tells me about a trip to India when I didn’t ask. Talks about pickleball when I’m talking about tennis. Cares a lot about birth order like posts “eldest daughter” memes. Is “best friends” with their mom. Is straight. Passes in front of me at a grocery store without saying excuse me (this is an inherited ick from my gay vocal teacher in middle school who once paused an entire voice lesson to rant about how rude it is to walk in front of someone looking at a shelf at the grocery store without saying “excuse me” and you know what he was right).


Smoking is a nightmare for me. Burned tobacco products are the worst, but vaping isn’t great either. Unfortunately, smoking is very normal in much of the world. Sure, it’s regulated in most countries, but it’s a lot more socially acceptable than a lot of the things we get into on this very site.

But normal doesn’t mean pleasant. I’ll paint you the picture: I’m autistic and have heightened sensory processing. I have an unusually keen sense of smell. That’s great when I’m testing new flavors or olfactorily examining something a friend passes me (completely normal behavior in my circle). The counterpoint to that sense of smell is that I’m highly sensitive to bad odours. I can pinpoint sewage leaks on the wind. Taking out the trash can give me an instant headache, if not make me outright nauseous.

Smoking is a sensory nightmare to me. The click of a lighter gets a stress response out of me because I know it’ll be followed seconds later on the wind by a burst of freshly burned tobacco. It’s a piercing scent that instantly sets off a headache in me. It’s eye-watering if I’m in actual proximity to it. When I hear a lighter or pick up cigarette smoke in the air, I tighten up noticeably and take several steps away.

It’s not just sensory or headache-inducing for me, either. I have a respiratory disability. Permanent damage partially driven by… growing up with a chain smoker in the house. I’ll never know if having a chain smoker in my proximity during childhood was the main driver of my lifelong disability, but there is zero chance it made my condition better. One of my lungs failed and collapsed at the age of 20. A horrible surgery and years of recovery left me here: one-and-a-half functional lungs, no running or jogging ever again, nerve damage, and assorted other issues. One of the fastest ways to agitate that damaged lung? Smoke. No particulate is great for it, but any kind of smoke is the worst.

I don’t just abhor smoking for its effect on my immediate functioning. I stay away from smokers and their territories because I have to do it to preserve what little respiratory integrity I have left. Most of the world considers the act socially acceptable as long as smokers follow some basic rules, but I have no choice but to avoid them wholesale. If I want to preserve my whole-body wellbeing, I must.



mal , Partnerships & HR

I feel so awful about this and it’s definitely a sensory thing, but chewing noises at large. Sloshing, slurping things, the particular crunch of a kettled chip in a seemingly very dry mouth, impatiently slurping a very hot ass drink, because why can’t you just wait one second until it’s bearable? I know, I know, there are specific ways to eat certain things, I get it! I also recognize how hypocritical this is coming from me considering I’ve been told I “eat loud.” However, I just can’t take it when witnessing or being proximal to this. I’ve had to stop chewing my own chips mid-crunch because it icks me in my own mouth. It’s a me thing, I’m aware.

Another ick is catching people doing gross things in general. I understand it’s the privacy of your own car or your own whatever, but catching folks picking their nose with their bare fingertips and putting it wherever they save nose treasure will forever burn my nerve biscuit.

Lastly: Biting fingernails or any small piece of anything and blowing it out of your mouth into the communal abyss severely shortens the life of my last nerve! The second I realize those short forcefully paced blows of air are actually failed attempts at that mystery thing on your tongue attempting to take flight; I lose it!! It’s gross, and it’s so self-absorbed. Lol. Like why would you think I’d just be okay with your mouth micro litter in the same small space as me?! ICK!


Is using AI a normal human behavior? I wish it wasn’t! Maybe there are uses in science that are valuable I don’t understand, but stuff like ChatGPT is so baffling to me. Why would you want to use something that spits out false information and in the process ruins the environment and encourages powerful people to fire their employees who actually can write and problem solve? “ChatGPT told me…” I don’t care. Ick.

Another one for me is when people say, “I’m an abolitionist but ___ should go to prison.” or “ACAB but ____.” Like, just make your joke if you want to make your joke or say your opinion if you want to say it, don’t dilute the meaning of these political beliefs/slogans. What are you a Democrat giving a press conference about how no one really wants to defund the police? ICK.

And, finally, people who use Venmo too much. If we’re friends, can’t we just switch off who buys the other one a drink? I’m not going to ask you to Venmo me $16. Just get me next time! I find it especially curious that the people who most like to Venmo request their friends $8 for a coffee are rich. I guess that’s how they keep their wealth!



Laneia , Director of Operations

Ok this isn’t virtue signaling or contrarian behavior for the sake of it, I swear, but the honest to goodness thing that actually gives me an ick is when people tell you about their icks?? THIS ROUNDTABLE ASIDE of course, sharing icks feels like the precocious little sister of Not Liking That Popular Thing Everyone Else Seems to Like. I mean, congrats for having an opinion, I guess?? That’s so novel of you?! I don’t know, it’s none of my business what you do or don’t like. Let’s talk about what you’re generating in this lifetime and why it matters to you, that’s so much more interesting! Having said all that though — and really getting into the spirit of this VERY FUN ROUNDTABLE — I do hate it when people lick their fingers. Specifically if they use that finger to first swipe up some remaining foodstuffs from a plate or bowl or yogurt cup and then lick it. Why couldn’t that have been a spoon instead of a finger, friend? Like I would almost rather someone just lick the plate directly! Go to town!



Riese , Editorial & Strategy

Loud chewing, although I’m trying to get over this because I don’t think it’s something people can control and then I’m always paranoid like what if I’m a loud chewer my gosh. When a white person says “spill the tea.” The phrase “gave me all the feels” in any context. A house/apartment/room with cat hair all over everything or where I can smell the litter box. (But also I’m allergic to cats, so is this an ick or is this an evolutionary adaptation for self-protection?) People who participate in internet pile-ons or enjoy cancel culture. This is a really specific and dated thing but in the late 90s / early 2000s, boys who frequently quoted Austin Powers in an Austin Powers voice were truly unbearable to me! “Do I make you horny, baby” was specifically an issue for me. (No it did not make me horny!)


“I don’t even own a TV.” Okay, congrats, you just told me we will have NOTHING to talk about. And it’s specifically that phrase. “I don’t really watch a lot of TV” is not the same. I don’t actually care if you watch a lot of TV or not, but “I don’t even own a TV” always feels like it actually means “I don’t even own a TV and I think I’m a superior being for it.” Also, the sound of someone blowing their nose. My old boss used to sit next to me in an open-plan office and just goose-honk into a tissue for three minutes straight, and it made me want to vomit. I understand if you’re walking down the street and you gotta do what you gotta do but if you’re inside?? It’s not a sneeze, you can hustle to the bathroom before clearing your entire sinuses out. Please. And spitting. Stop spitting while you’re walking! 99.9% of the time this happens it’s an old, white, cis man so probably nobody reading this but if you have to hock a loogie so bad you can’t wait until you’re not walking directly in front of someone who could get hit by spit-shrapnel, you need to stop smoking or drink more water or something, sheesh.


When people lick their fingers after they eat, especially if it’s cheetoh-adjacent. I know it’s a normal human behavior, but I can’t stand it. I can’t even watch it happen. It makes me nauseous. I think that’s partially the OCD talking, but it truly is not hygienic! Especially in this COVID-stricken society, why are you out here trying to willingly collect germs in your mouth?

Additionally, I hate when people say they don’t “gossip.” Yes you do Everyone does (Thank you, Kelsey McKinney and the Normal Gossip podcast). Don’t put on a holier-than-thou attitude because you want to go to Heaven or get an A+ or get a promotion at work. Have you told an embarrassing story about yourself at a party? That’s gossip. Talk about sports? That’s gossip. Do you consume media? THAT’S GOSSIP.


Oof, I have so many icks. My biggest ick right now is when friends use “we” and just assume I’ll infer that they’re talking about their significant other. I see this in both queer and straight relationships, long and short, and I don’t understand why they can’t just be clear about who they’re talking about! I say “my partner and I” and I wish other people did too! And also!! Just because y’all are dating or married or cohabitating doesn’t mean that you suddenly have unified, singular taste or experiences and yet! “We don’t like [insert thing here]” is a sentence I have heard more than once! I will readily admit that sometimes I use “we” but I hate it when I do and I am really trying to rid myself of the habit.

Another ick — also has to do with partnered people — is when people automatically assume they can bring their significant other to a small group, or even a one-on-one, friend hang. I do not want to spend time with every single one of my friends’ significant others!! If I did, I would befriend them! Also, it’s just polite to ask if you can bring someone before you show up! Double dates exist for a reason!!

Some other icks: humming off-key (especially if the person humming only knows part of the song so they keep humming just that part), not holding the door after someone holds the door for you, talking loudly on the subway, only doing cardio and not strength training, not using headphones when listening to audio in public…


Man, where do I start with this? When you talk about icks, I feel like you have to ignore the fact that someone will inevitably be pissed off about what you say, so I’m going to try that. Also, before I start, I just want to say I’m defining “normal human behavior” as stuff we’re allowing to happen in our society without addressing it in any real way. Some of the biggest icks: adult Harry Potter fans, people who still post their Starbucks orders on their Instagram stories, wellness influencers who are also grocery store walkers and the people who listen to and follow them, people who talk shit about the South when they’ve never been here, Disney Adults, people who complain about noise in public, picky eaters (even if they’re kids), people who use any AI generators for anything, putting stuff in a store anywhere you want because you don’t want that thing anymore, flip flops worn by anyone for any reason, not using your blinker, having a made-up corporate job that you can’t explain to me in a single sentence, vegans who comment on the food I’m eating while I’m eating it, anyone who says an entire genre of music “is bad,” influencers who post their strength training routines with god-awful form, pocket watchers, sports betting, anyone who says “There’s a good app for that,” people who “hate to read,” bad tippers, CrossFit, compulsory heterosexuality, and people who say things like “The U.S. is a democracy.” I’m sure I’m missing quite a few here, but this will do for now.


Whistling. I hate whistling. It makes me so mad. We all agreed that teaching children to play the recorder is a universally reviled custom, so why when we escape that elementary school hell would you go and do your best imitation of that cacophony with your lips? People who whistle generally are not good at whistling or in tune, and they aren’t considering whether I would rather hear their little tune versus whatever is going on in my head (I don’t want to hear their tune). If you’re whistling near me, I’m mad at you and judging you.

I also hate it when people still think AI is intelligent. It gave me the ick when ChatGPT first went commercial, and it gives me the ick now.

Besides that, a thing that gives me the ick that is perhaps more complex are situations where people fall into partnerships really quickly and go from a healthy dating cadence to enmeshment in like 60 seconds. If it’s a friend, I have to suddenly hear about this new person all of the time and find myself encountering them at every hang. If it’s someone I’m dating, now I have to tell them I don’t want to date anymore because I have boundaries around this behavior. It’s just very unchill and seems unhealthy, plus — and here’s the petty part — I’m not dating that person and I don’t necessarily want to spend as much time with them!


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Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya is the managing editor of Autostraddle and a lesbian writer of essays, fiction, and pop culture criticism living in Orlando. She is the former managing editor of TriQuarterly, and her short stories appear in McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Joyland, Catapult, The Offing, The Rumpus, Cake Zine, and more. Some of her pop culture writing can be found at The A.V. Club, Vulture, The Cut, and others. When she is not writing, editing, or reading, she is probably playing tennis. You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram and learn more about her work on her website.

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