# Strange things you do when living alone **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372 "2005-11-30T14:31:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/1 "2005-11-30T14:31:52Z")
When I’m single, especially when not dating much, I often adapt my daily routine towards personal preferences that I can understand seem odd. For example, lately I’ve been keeping all my oral hygiene stuff in the kitchen rather than the bathroom, so as to keep my toothbrush, flosser etc. relatively e-.coli-free. Makes sense to me, doesn’t gross me out at all, but if I had a girlfriend I could see where this might seem kind of disgusting to her. Also, I walk all around my apartment brushing my teeth while I shut off lights, close cabinets, and other tasks I can perform with my free hand. My ex-girlfriend used to give me funny looks when I did this, so I restricted my toothbrushing to the bathroom while we were dating. I’m also very lax about completing tasks. I piled my laundry out of the dryer onto my couch, to sort it out while watching TV, got absorbed in the show I was watching and basically it stayed there for most of the week. Sharing a couch with a pile of socks and underwear would drive me crazy if it was someone else’s laundry, but I was just fine with my decision (and my living room decor) this week, and could have tolerated my own mess for quite a while. If I had a guest, of course, I’d have put it in the proper drawer tout suite. So what do you do when you’re by yourself that you wouldn’t do when sharing space with someone else? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/2 "2005-11-30T14:53:45Z")
I’ve been living alone so long I suspect I’m truly incapable of living with another human being on a regular basis. My most obnoxious habit is probably that I leave my shoes wherever I take them off. There tend to be a couple of tribes of them in regular places – by the TV (which is between the front door and the stairs), by the shelf where I leave my purse and keys, and in the bedroom – but there are often random shoes in the bathroom, by the computer desk, or in the kitchen. It can hold things up in the morning, when I’m looking for a particular pair and they’re not in any of the usual spots… ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/3 "2005-11-30T14:56:48Z")
Like you, when I’m alone things wind up where they’re most convenient for me, not in their traditional place. I always do secondary tasks while brushing my teeth, and people find this strange. But brushing my teeth does not completely engage my prodigious intellect – if I don’t do other stuff, I get bored. I’m a multi-tasker. Why waste that time staring at yourself in the mirror? ---
**Author:** ![Improv\_Geek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b3f665/32.png) [@Improv\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Improv_Geek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/4 "2005-11-30T15:02:33Z")
Never having lived alone I can’t really make much of a comment on this one, but I can tell you one thing I wish a roommate would keep until he was living alone. He wakes up in the morning and goes to take his morning pee and usually I’m on the first floor in the main room with a cup of Hot Cocoa and watching Sports Center and the dude totally takes his piss with the bathroom door open. Drives me up the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/5 "2005-11-30T15:36:01Z")
I intentionally burn my popcorn when I cook it on the stove. I love a few burnt kernels, but I would never subject another person to the smell. I lock my bedroom door before I go to sleep. I do this because if I don’t, I’ll keep thinking I hear someone in my living room as I’m trying to drift off. If my door is locked, I know for damn sure I’ll hear someone coming for me and I can disregard the little noises. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/6 "2005-11-30T16:16:39Z")
I sing to my cat and rats sometimes. Silly made-up songs that don’t really go anywhere, like: _It’s hard being_ _A cat_ _You’re real short and you can’t reach stuff_ _All you can do is say_ _Meow meow meow meow_ _Till someone gives you something_ They seem to enjoy it. If anyone else heard me though, they’d probably think I was nutso. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/7 "2005-11-30T16:29:35Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > If anyone else heard me though, they’d probably think I was nutso. I’m sure the cat already does. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/8 "2005-11-30T16:34:36Z")
> [@Amazon Floozy Goddess](#): > > I sing to my cat and rats sometimes. Silly made-up songs that don’t really go anywhere, like: > > _It’s hard being_ > _A cat_ > _You’re real short and you can’t reach stuff_ > _All you can do is say_ > _Meow meow meow meow_ > _Till someone gives you something_ > > They seem to enjoy it. If anyone else heard me though, they’d probably think I was nutso. I feel a lot better about this now. I thought I was the only one that sang made up songs to the cats. I write haiku for them too. Fat Marty Boo cat Scared of the fatter Scarlett Sleep and lick yourself ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/9 "2005-11-30T16:37:46Z")
I’m still adjusting to living on my own for the first time after 26 years of living with my folks. There’s a few things I do that probably seem normal, but they were no-nos in our house: - Taking a shower after 9 pm (mom goes to bed at 9, bedroom’s next to the shower…) - Doing laundry after 9 pm (washer’s next to the shower…) - NOT having a completely cleaned off kitchen table - NOT leaving my keys/wallet/pocket junk in a basket. Leaving them anywhere. - Not closing the bathroom or bedroom door. - Leaving my toothbrush and toothpaste on the bathroom counter instead of in the cabinet (dont’ worry they’re not next to the toilet) - Not washing dishes right away, but when I FEEL like it. - Using my laptop and computer without headphones, and the TV without closed caption. - Leaving stuff where I left it when I came in, and not putting it away (for days!) It’s all kind of mundane stuff, but it all feels kind of liberating after being in the “house of tidy” for so long 🙂 (I will admit tho that if you come to my house, it’s tidy. I just don’t have people over that much.) ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/10 "2005-11-30T16:44:55Z")
I’m about to commence living with a roommate after over four years of living alone. I’m not sure how I’m going to handle it, but we’ve both agreed that there is nothing wrong with dancing around the living room in one’s underwear, and have already instituted a “call before you bring somebody in the house” rule to avoid embarrassing incidents. Like **twicks** , there is absolutely no telling where my shoes may end up, and I also have a tendency to just leave something wherever I happen to put it down when I’m finished, rather than put it away. As a result, there is almost always a pile of books, papers, knitting, and various other projects in several different places. There is often a laundry basket in the middle of the living room, and I do the dishes when I damn well _feel_ like it. (Although in the new place, there will be both laundry facilities _in my house_ and a dishwasher, so that will probably become a nonissue.) Oh yes, and I talk to my cats more than I talk to anybody else on this Earth. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/11 "2005-11-30T17:00:05Z")
Heh. I wander around doing stuff while brushing my teeth and I whistle all. The. Damn. Time. To the point that I annoy myself sometimes. So I try not to do it when there’s other people around. You know how some people have a whiteboard on their fridge? I use the _fridge_ as a whiteboard (What’s wrong with that? Look, it comes right off!). My parents have raised objections to this so I only do it these days when taking phone numbers, say, and I wipe it off before they get back 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/12 "2005-11-30T17:00:22Z")
I imagine I’d talk and sing (me too) to the cats even if somebody else was in the house. I don’t think I’d have the ironing board in the living room with a stack of shirts on it for about a month now left out. Or the huge stack of dirty dishes on the counter. Other than turning down the stereo when I’m in my workshop I don’t think I’d change much. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/13 "2005-11-30T17:29:32Z")
Most of the differences between when I lived by myself and now (two roommates) are pretty mundane. Except that now I have to wear clothing all the time. :mad: 😛 Oh, and I used to talk to myself a lot. I didn’t have pets. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/14 "2005-11-30T17:30:19Z")
**pseudotriton ruber ruber** Doncha watch Mythbusters? They tested the old “bacteria on the toothbrush” thingy. The control toothbruth that they left in an office, covered up, had as much fecal coliform bacteria as the ones left exposed in the bathroom. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/15 "2005-11-30T17:36:29Z")
The most suprising thing in this thread so far: **twickster** is apparently female…hunh. I live alone and do all those things. Except replace pet rats with pet fish. I also have been known to engage in tag with the cat…she seems to understand the game really well. And use furniture unconventially. If I wanna lay on the arm of the sofa with my feet above me on the wall I’m gonna! Its my sofa, my feet and my wall! And I eat and drink out of cartons and have breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![lonesome\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@lonesome\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lonesome_loser)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/16 "2005-11-30T20:01:40Z")
When I get undressed from work, I rarely get redressed. All of the way anyway. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/17 "2005-11-30T20:22:01Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > I always do secondary tasks while brushing my teeth, and people find this strange. But brushing my teeth does not completely engage my prodigious intellect – if I don’t do other stuff, I get bored. I’m a multi-tasker. Why waste that time staring at yourself in the mirror? Ohh, I do this too. It used to drive my brother up the wall, but he does it now too, so ha. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/18 "2005-11-30T21:02:21Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > **pseudotriton ruber ruber** > > Doncha watch Mythbusters? They tested the old “bacteria on the toothbrush” thingy. The control toothbruth that they left in an office, covered up, had as much fecal coliform bacteria as the ones left exposed in the bathroom. 😉 Huh. Maybe I should just swish my toothbrush around the toilet bowl to rinse that nasty toothpaste residue off. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/19 "2005-11-30T21:23:52Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’ve been living alone so long I suspect I’m truly incapable of living with another human being on a regular basis. Yep! > [@](#): > > My most obnoxious habit is probably that I leave my shoes wherever I take them off. Yep! (usually by the door, I don’t often wear shoes at home) And without pets I talk to myself a lot. I think the thing that an evesdropper would find very weird is when I reprimand myself for doing something stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372/20 "2005-11-30T21:30:39Z")
> [@Big\_Norse](#): > > I think the thing that an evesdropper would find very weird is when I reprimand myself for doing something stupid. That’s weird? I do that _all day_. Even my cow-orkers are used to it by now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-things-you-do-when-living-alone/333372.md?page=2)