I’ve noticed a trend that I don’t understand. On several occasions in the last few months, while out driving and looking in the rear view mirror when stopped at a light, I have noticed the person in the car behind me flossing their teeth. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww… To me, flossing is something that is done in the bathroom, and only in the bathroom. What are these people thinking? What do they do with the product of their flossing? - they don’t seem to be spitting anything out the window. And why can’t the flossing wait? Don’t these people understand that when you’re out driving in your car, it’s not really a private space and people can see what you’re doing?
So any dopers into public flossing that can offer some insight?
What’s next, clipping toenails in the office?
And what sorts of odd disgusting things have you seen people do in their car or other places when they thought no one would notice?
Well besides people mining for gold in the high and low location…there are the compulsive denture players…who pop out their dentures when they think…ewww…my dad is guilty of that :shudder:
There’s a guy on my commuter trains who SHAVES every morning ON THE TRAIN. Ew, ick, disgusting. And I thought guy bristles in the bathroom sink was awful, imagine finding it on the seat of a public conveyance!
“SHUT UP AND DRIVE”
with a picture of a cellphone in the circle-with-a-line-through-it.
It was attached to a car who’s driver was leaning WAY forward so she could get a good close-up of her face in the rear-view mirror whilst putting on makeup.
And, yes, the car was moving
on the interstate
in the far left lane
passing traffic
And you guys haven’t even mentioned the constant parade of nosepickers, ass-scratchers, hawk-and-spitters, and penis-adjusters that pass me by on the street every day. Then there’re the Lunatic Drunks, as I like to call them. The people who feel no compunction whatsoever about having screaming fights with themselves, other drunks, cops and innocent passers-by at any hour of the day or night, especially directly below my apartment window. I love living downtown.
There was a woman who I used to work with who would snort all damn day. I mean the kind of snort where your nose is stuffed up, so you inhale as hard as possible to pull the snot out of it. She’d do it on the phone, she’d do it talking to me, she’d do it completely unconsciously. It drove me bananas, and I am so very glad I don’t work there anymore.
My god, porc, I almost lost my burrito reading this story.
I’m almost puking now just thinking about it. Flossing is one of those things that absolutely makes me oogy. People, that’s PUTRID FOOD PRODUCT you’re pulling out.
I used to work for a horrible disgusting magazine editor (at “Horrible Disgusting Magazine,” oddly enough). One time during a story conference, he started flossing his teeth. When he was done, he ran his fingers down the floss, made a little ball at the end and FLICKED IT ACROSS THE ROOM.
I am not a religious flosser, and with my chronic gum problems, I should be. (I do floss.) However, my dental hygienist is always suggesting what I’m sure she thinks are creative ways to squeeze flossing into my busy day; for example, while I’m editing (yeah, and flick bits of food all over the manscript? Plus I do use both hands to manipulate pen/pencil and paper or keyboard and mouse) or driving (“Yeah, officer, I know I caused that ten-car pileup, but check out my nice clean gums!”). :rolleyes:
Uh, I keep floss in my car because I will literally drive myself to a headache (no pun intended) working at something stuck in my teeth (after eating a steak or something.) My only defense is that I do this immediately upon returning to my car, and not while driving or in traffic. I dispose of the offending item and the floss in a tissue or napkin and throw it away the next time I get out of my car.
Eve, your story reminds me of the division manager at my last company. I never witnessed this, but I have it on good authority that he used to “pick and flick” in meetings (as well as pass gas). Apparently at one meeting, the booger he picked and flicked landed on the shoe of one of the spineless weasels who worked for him. The spineless weasel said nothing.
And BTW, my father has been known to floss and clip toenails in the family room. He also used to put “naked” corn cobs back on the serving dish with the corn-on-the-cob that had yet to be eaten. Ugh. We cured him of this last habit, at least.
Hmmmmm… “naked corn cobs”… could be a nice euphamism. Or maybe a band name.
jarbaby, feeling better now?
thinksnow, I’m not talking about a quick floss to get rid of a fresh piece of embedded steak right (though why not carry the floss with you and do it in the bathroom, huh? ;)). What you describe doesn’t have quite the same “ick” factor.
I, too, used to work for someone horrible and disgusting. He was MUCH worse, though…
He used to cough up loogeys… I don’t know if that’s how you spell it, but close enough…
Here comes the worst part…
Don’t read this if you’re squeamish…
He used to take aforementioned loogey out and play with it. Run it through his fingers, I don’t know… It actually made me so sick that he did this, that I threw up in my trashcan at my desk one day. Ever since I worked there, I can’t even be in the room when someone feels the need to hawk one up.
“He used to take aforementioned loogey out and play with it.”
—I feel like I’m playing “can you top this?” with Skerri . . . But the father of Horrible Disgusting Editor, who owned the company, used to hock up phlegmballs and hold them in his mouth while he talked to us, then RE-SWALLOW THEM.
. . . Umm, move aside, Skerri, I’m gonna be ill, too . . .
*Originally posted by porcupine *
What’s next, clipping toenails in the office?
I spend three hours a day on public transit. The one thing that really bothers me is finger/toenail clipping. Mostly it’s the sound … that horrible, slow, CLICK after CLICK drives me crazy.
Flossing, shaving, putting on makeup annoy me only mildly. I once witnessed a woman brushing her teeth and spitting it out over the edge of the platform. At least she didn’t do it while on the train. (Unlike the clippers, who tend to just leave their residue lying around).
