# What seemingly innocuous things can you just NOT look at? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714 "2010-08-27T20:44:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![impatien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c89c15/32.png) [@impatien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/impatien)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/21 "2010-08-27T23:18:29Z")
Wow, you people are weird!! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/22 "2010-08-27T23:19:07Z")
Someone “cracking” their joints. Not just the sound, but watching someone try to tear their head off to crack their neck. Makes me woozy. Similarly, contortionists and “double jointed” displays. I once worked in an office with \*two \*people who had Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. They could turn their elbows inside out, set a hand on a table and rotate it 360 degrees, put their legs behind their heads and do all sorts of extra flexible tricks. Ew, ew, ew! Oh, and eyeballs. Someone putting in a contact, taking out a contact, or otherwise fondling their eyeballs. Ugh. And the really silly thing is…I wear contacts! (But they’re gas perms, so I don’t ever have to touch my eyeball directly. Thank gods for water tension!) ---
**Author:** ![Dusty\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba8739/32.png) [@Dusty\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusty_Rose)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/23 "2010-08-27T23:39:37Z")
Ultra-sound pictures of someone’s unborn. Everyone around me is oohing and ahhing and I’m trying not to gag. And that’s just over a still picture. One year at Thanksgiving my sister and her husband stopped by for dessert. We’re all settling into our pie and coffee when she jumps up, turns on the big screen, pops a video in the VCR, and plops down in the middle of the floor. Yep, it was the _video_ of her ultra-sound!! Good Lord have mercy. I thought I was going to waste my entire Thanksgiving meal by spewing it all over the living room! ---
**Author:** ![Proudest\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/proudest_monkey/32/13257_2.png) [@Proudest\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Proudest_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/24 "2010-08-27T23:44:53Z")
I hate seeing stuff swirl down the sink drain. In the bathroom it’s usually either soap and water, or toothpaste and spit. The kitchen sink swirl might have bits of food or soap or those coagulated clots of fat – ugh to all! Say I have an inch or two of coffee left in the pot that I have to dispose of. I will slowly and carefully pour it into the drainhole rather than dumping it quickly and rinsing with water that would make a disgusting coffee/water swirl. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/25 "2010-08-27T23:45:59Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Spiders. I can’t even look at a picture of a spider without getting heebed out. Thread title: SEEMINGLY INNOCUOUS. Spider: Not ^^^^^ Mine: Those oddly shaped signs–almost an oval, not quite–advertising things. They are sort of teardrop shaped, hanging on the ends of rods, blowing in the wind if there is any, and there are usually two or more of them, saying the same thing. They creep me right out. They give me chills. I have no idea why. We also have an intersection that has some metal “art” to wit: Large things made to look like clover blossoms, or thistles, or something. Anyway, they’re purple. About 10 feet tall, and just what a thistle flower would look like ten feet tall and made out of metal. They creep me out and did so when they first appeared. And now they are paired with those weird oddly shaped signs because something new has opened there. I will drive miles to avoid this intersection. Unless the new thing happens to be a discount shoe store, then I guess I will just have to grit my teeth and go there. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/26 "2010-08-27T23:53:05Z")
The area where someone has taken a bite out of a sandwich, where it’s all kind of mooshed together and a little bit wet. Ew ew ew. Same with any kind of marks on the edge of a glass. This is why I don’t share food. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/27 "2010-08-28T00:01:03Z")
Wet popsicle sticks. I can handle dry ones, the kind kids use for art, but the thought of them, or their tongue-depressor kin is just not nice. Wow, that was hard to type. And now I have to figure out a way to not think of popsicle sticks. Perhaps I’ll go watch videos of baby sloths. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/28 "2010-08-28T00:07:41Z")
People chewing gum. I am so disgusted by this, and I’m not even talking about the vomitous level of people chewing gum with their mouth open or even the murder-inducing level of people popping gum. Just the simple choice of choosing to chew gum. Why? Why do you hate me? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/29 "2010-08-28T00:15:12Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > Same with any kind of marks on the edge of a glass. This is why I don’t share food. me too! Ugh what’s worst is the little drip clinging to the glass up by the top rim–bonus grossness points if it’s milk. _gag_ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/30 "2010-08-28T00:27:20Z")
Old pictures of dinosaurs and sea creatures give me the wiggies. Like up until the 1950s. There is something just viscerally WRONG about them. Hell, for some sea creatures, even modern drawings or photographs can give me issues. Mostly Cephalopods and deep sea fish. ESPECIALLY the fish. Cephalopods are invertebrates, so a certain wrongness is to be expected, but when a _vertebrate_ triggers the ‘oh, god, this is a creature that SHOULD NOT BE’ reaction, it’s that much worse. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/31 "2010-08-28T00:31:27Z")
Seeing people get their shoulders massaged. I hate having my own touched to such a degree that it bothers me to see it happen to other people. Side note: this topic turned out to be much more interesting than the subject suggested. ---
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/32 "2010-08-28T00:46:39Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I can’t watch people brush their teeth–it makes me queasy. The sound of someone brushing their teeth is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I can’t help but cringe. The sight of someone brushing about to brush is enough to make me cringe in anticipation. It’s not as bad on TV or in the movies I still have to avert my eyes. I can bear it, but it’s not pleasant. Interestingly enough, I didn’t have this ‘affliction’ when I was younger. ---
**Author:** ![HardlySanguine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HardlySanguine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HardlySanguine)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/33 "2010-08-28T00:52:48Z")
Too late to ETA, but reading the [toothpaste thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=575961)’s OP caused an involuntary shiver to travel down my spine. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/34 "2010-08-28T01:12:13Z")
[Newer windmills](http://osha.europa.eu/en/blog/windmill.jpg). Jeezy Creezy they creep me out so bad! They look like the kind of thing that would show up in some horror scene in a movie. [person gets out of car on a road near open land, windmill in the distance] [close up shot of their face, then where they’re looking] [new shot like the original but the windmill is _closer_] [person looks down at something] [OH MY GOD THE WINDMILL IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM AAAAAAAAUGH] ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/35 "2010-08-28T01:27:56Z")
Seeing people brush their teeth doesn’t actually squick me out but it does surprise me when I see it on TV or in a movie. Why? And then the fact they only brush for like 20 seconds bothers me because it takes me a while to stop thinking how ill-brushed their teeth are. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/36 "2010-08-28T01:31:36Z")
Watching someone eat hardboiled eggs. Just the thought causes me to gag. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/37 "2010-08-28T02:04:48Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > Not buckeyes? 😛 Beat me to it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/38 "2010-08-28T02:13:37Z")
> [@descamisado](#): > > People chewing gum. > > I am so disgusted by this, and I’m not even talking about the vomitous level of people chewing gum with their mouth open or even the murder-inducing level of people popping gum. > > Just the simple choice of choosing to chew gum. Why? Why do you hate me? ^^^ I came in to say this. Ewww. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/39 "2010-08-28T02:37:16Z")
Lipstick on things - cutlery, glasses, cigarette butts, and especially white foam cups. Congealed egg yolk on dishes. A sink full of icky dishwater full of floating bits and pieces. ICK!..Dandruff…Gel or hair products that is actually meant to make your hair look all clumpy and greasy…A used, wadded up tissue not thrown in the trash but left out in the open by some slob…Maple tree seeds, ‘helicopters’, that fall down by the metric ton on the lawn and make a crunching noise when you walk across the grass as if you’re walking on a sea of dead bugs…Carpenter bees hovering right in front of you, making you wish you’d thought to carry a tennis racket around with you… These are a few of my UN-favorite things. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714/40 "2010-08-28T02:47:21Z")
Wiggly teeth. I just can’t look at kids who want to wiggle their about-to-fall-out teeth. Shrimp. I don’t see how people can eat giant sea-bugs, and don’t want to look at them. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-seemingly-innocuous-things-can-you-just-not-look-at/551714.md?page=3)