The other day I found myself doing something that I knew I should not. We live in New England in an area where ticks are common. When I walk the dog, I spray us both before going out. The other day the spray was not where it usually is, and I was too lazy to go looking for it. I knew I should, but I didn’t do it.
You Do What?
But it got me thinking…what do we all do, that we know we should not? I admitted my recent faux pas, and I have some statistics for you, like smoking and staying up too late, but frankly, the anecdotal answers were way more interesting – and in some cases, fun to read. What do you do, that you know you should not? We won’t believe you if you say nothing… Oh, and BTW, we both came home tick-free and will not tempt fate again.
Maybe They Were Teachers In Another Life?
Apparently, grammar is very important to some:
- “I carry a red Sharpie to correct punctuation on flyers.” I asked this person if they had ever been caught. “Nope. I’m the grammar Ninja.”
- “I have called restaurants to tell them that their marquee is wrong.”
- “Sometimes I call people out on their grammatical errors in a funny way. They don’t like it very much.”
- “I overheard a conversation and one person kept using words that they obviously were not familiar with. First it was ‘penultimate’, which they thought meant ‘ultimate’. Then it was ‘affect’, when they meant ‘effect’. I held my tongue, but then they pulled out ‘irregardless’ and I had to butt in.”
Dogs Are #1
Several people mentioned their dogs, from a variety of perspectives. Cats did not come up even once:
- “I seek advice from my dog.”
- “I talk to my dog when I am sad and stressed. It helps.”
- “I spend more than I should on dog products.”
- “I spend more on my dog’s food than I do on my own sometimes!”
- “We eat together. My dog is very polite and waits for her bites.”
- “My dog and I share a spoon. In private.”
TV & Movies
When it comes to television and movies, some of us play fast and loose with the “rules”:
- “I ‘save’ the seat next to me in the movies for my imaginary friend who has yet to arrive.”
- “I sneak a ton of snacks and drinks into the movies.”
- “Sometimes I watch movies that I know are going to upset me. then I don’t sleep. I wake up exhausted, and swear I will never do that again. And then I do.”
- “My husband has a kilt and you can fit a lot of bags filled with popcorn in all the pockets. MANY BAGS. No one can tell. It’s awesome.”
Food & Drink
Many of us have relationships with food and beverages that we know are not quite right. And we do it anyway.
- “All the chocolate and sugar.”
- “Drink diet soda regularly.”
- “Sometimes I don’t wait until 5.”
- “I drink coffee after 4 pm (it’s now midnight and I’m still up).”
- “I will eat a quantity of junk food that I know is wrong. I know I will pay for it later and do it anyway. And as I am eating, I am saying to myself, ‘you know you shouldn’t be doing this’, and I still do it. I guess the only solace is that I know I am not the only one LOL.”
- “I stop for fast food when there are healthier options right there. I mean, like in the same plaza – RIGHT THERE – and I get the junk food anyway.”
- “Eat late at night. It’s a bad habit filled with calories I shouldn’t consume.”
- “I buy those chocolate-dipped McVities digestive biscuits for my British friend, but then sometimes when I discover them in my pantry, I eat them myself.”
According to the CDC, 36.6% of adults in the U.S. consume fast food on a given day.
Don’t Touch That!
According to Newsweek, Dr. Pimple Popper, has over 2 billion views on YouTube and more than 15 million followers on TikTok. Viral posts on the channel can rack up 65 million views, and more. Why do we like to watch pimple popping, and maybe do it ourselves?
Such footage frequently elicits a feeling of disgust, which is typically seen as an unpleasant emotion. Daniel Kelly, a philosophy professor at Purdue University and the author of Yuck!: The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust, explains that this reaction developed mainly to shield us from harmful foods and infectious diseases.
Interesting. Do you indulge in pimple popping? Here’s what others said:
- “I love squeezing out a good blackhead. What makes it ‘good’? I get the while thing out, I get to see it emerge in its entirety, and my skin is not marred afterwards. It’s like the perfect extraction.”
- “Pimples. I can hear my Mom telling me not to touch ’em! That was decades ago, and I know I risk infection or scarring, and then I try to pop them anyway.”
- When I get a sunburn and there is some skin peeling, I cannot help but help it along. There is that fine line between peeling skin where it hurts – I don’t do that – and peeling skin that comes off effortlessly, revealing fresh, new skin.”
- I don’t pop pimples, but if I have a scab it is hard for me to stay a way from it.
We even have an article on this obsession: Our Secret Addiction: Why We Can’t Resist Zit-Zapping Videos
Voices? What Voices?
Several people mentioned the “voices in their head”. Picture the cartoon devil and angel, each sitting on a shoulder, whispering in our ears. Apparently, the devil wins out quite a bit and we do things we “know” we should not.
- “I listen to the voices in my head too often. Turns out, they are not always giving me the best advice.”
- “Sometimes I don’t hear myself, so I have to start over, only to not pay attention, AGAIN.”
- “I will be weighing a decision, and it is seriously just like the old cartoons where there is a devil whispering in one ear, and an angel in the other, except I picture them as small versions of me. I am both. I feel myself leaning towards the ‘devil me’ opinion. I know I shouldn’t go that way, and then do it anyway.”
Humor Is So Subjective
Humor can be a dicey prospect. What one person finds funny, another can find offensive. And yet, we don’t always hold back:
- “Oh, I have walked right into it before. It’s like I can see it a mile away. That if I say what I am thinking, it is going to set people off, and yet the words come out of my mouth…”
- “I will have what I think is a humorous observation and be well aware that it might not be shared by others, but I can feel the adrenaline building. It’s a great feeling, and then BAM, I say it.”
You Said What?
- “I say the quiet things out loud. Even the dark things people whisper into the void.”
- “I do and say so many things. Where to start?”
You Would Think Most Would Take Contraception Seriously…
If you are sexually active, we hope you are acting accordingly and protecting yourself and your partners. We all “know” this is the right thing to do, and yet…
- “I rely on condoms to prevent pregnancy and STDs. And yet there absolutely have been times I just tell the guy to withdraw. I know statistically this is playing with fire, and yet I do it. So far I have been lucky.”
Procrastination & Screen Time
This is a huge one. According to a 2023 study, 15-20% of adults regularly procrastinate, while 80-95% of college students do so at some level. Additionally, 88% of people procrastinate for at least one hour daily.
- “I sleep through the start of class times. I go to class and don’t pay attention. It’s an issue for me.”
- “I get up every day with the best intentions. With a list of things I want to accomplish. And these are things I should be able to get done. I have the time and the resources, and then I end up ‘shopping’ for new towels, or a new protein powder. I put ‘shopping’ in quotes because I most often don’t even buy; it’s just the process that seems ‘fun’ at the time. Next thing I know, an hour or more has gone by.”
A report from Common Sense Media found that teens in the U.S. spend an average of 7 hours and 22 minutes on screens for entertainment daily, not including time spent on schoolwork.
Skipping Sleep
Sleep is necessary for our health, and we all know that. And yet, about 35% of adults in the U.S. get less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep per night. This sleep deprivation can lead to several health issues, including mental health problems and decreased productivity.
- “I have a bedtime that I know will help me get the sleep I need. Once I took all screens out of my bedroom, I started getting to bed at a better time than before. It was immensely helpful.”
Smoking
Okay this might be the most obvious one. How can there be anyone at this point who does not know that smoking is deadly and that there are no benefits. According to the CDC, cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths.
- “I still smoke cigarettes. I know I shouldn’t. I also know that the time will come when I will quit. I guess I am just not ready, even though people in my family have died from lung cancer.”
Quitting Sooner Than Later
This applies to relationships, and jobs. How many of you have stayed in a relationship or job, when you knew it was over or time to get out? How many days, months, or years went by before you made the move?
- “One New Year’s Eve my partner and I were watching the ball drop on TV, and I was thinking about the year that passed, and how miserable I had been. I knew this relationship was not good for me. Next New Year’s came around and there I was, having the same thought, not having made a move. This went on for too many years; I am too embarrassed to say how many, but I finally ended it – and I ended up meeting the love of my life a year later.”
- “My Mom should have left my Dad, who was abusive. She always said she was staying because it was ‘better’ for us. As a kid I knew that didn’t make sense, and I vowed to not repeat this pattern.”
- “My work environment was toxic, but I stayed because I thought I needed the money. I mean, I did need the money, and so I stayed for longer than I should have. But then someone said to me that I was worth being respected and that I could also probably make more money – and here’s the part that got me – that I would never know unless I quit this job and tried. So, I did. And I did find a better job! Now I look back and think about how stuck I had felt, and realized I was the only one in my way.I love encouraging others to go for it! We’ve got one life, KWIM?”
12 Of The Worst Tasting Foods People Find Disgusting
Food. We all have foods we love, foods we cannot stand – and then there are the foods that have people deeply divided. While wandering about an online forum we came across a discussion about foods that people find disgusting.
READ: 12 Of The Worst Tasting Foods People Find Disgusting
10 Of The Worst Tasting Drinks People Pretend To Like
Hold onto your taste buds, because we’re about to embark on a flavor-filled adventure through the realm of beverages! Sure, we all need water to survive, but let’s be real – drinks are so much more than just basic hydration. Recently, the question of which beverages people secretly think taste awful sparked a fiery debate. Boozy elixirs, non-alcoholic refreshments, and everything in between were thrown into the mix. Brace yourself as we unveil the truth behind the drinks we pretend to love. Get ready for a wild ride of taste revelations! Read 10 Of The Worst Tasting Drinks People Pretend To Like
