Humans are pretty gross. Anyone who has spent any time living in a highly populated city is a witness to that. There's a reason why so many people enjoy "people watching" and reality television—we're fascinating creatures, for better or for worse. Observing humanity in its rawest state helps us develop a better understanding of the purpose of our existence and the meaning of life altogether.
While you might think that the majority of society would keep their grossest behaviors private and within the walls of their homes, it seems there are plenty who are just fine with putting it on display for the world to see. Read on to see what real people have shared about the most disgusting thing they've witnessed in public.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#35 The Things Lifeguards See
I used to work as a lifeguard. Some guy decided to go #1 on the rocks in the steam room, causing it to fill with steamed wizz.
This all happened before I got to work. One of my coworkers decided to mess with me and told me to go check something out in the steam room. I took one step in, inhaled the most disgusting scent I've ever smelled, then proceeded to puke in a garbage can.
#34 Definitely Not Okay
Last year on my way into work, I was driving behind a car that struck a pedestrian. A lady ran into fast-moving traffic from behind a parked car so there was no way anyone could see her, much less stop in time. She darted into the street and the car in front of me plowed right through her. She went flying through the air.
We all slammed our brakes, including the car that struck her, and the driver got out, screaming, "OH MY GOD ARE YOU OK!? OH MY GOD!" The woman stood up, looked at the driver and the row of cars and said, "Am I okay?" in such an eerily, calm manner.
Why it still sticks with me today is because she was clearly not okay—her arm was broken and pointing the wrong direction, her head was bleeding profusely, and tons of her teeth were knocked out. She stood there after muttering her question for about 10 seconds before collapsing.
#33 What Happens In Vegas
I used to be a janitor on the Las Vegas Strip. On my first week on the job, I saw a girl get so intoxicated she passed out after vomiting. This was at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday. We had to call the ambulance for her. Her friend was almost as bad, but she wasn't passed out yet and still continued sipping on her large drinks while sitting next to her mess. My supervisor was nice enough to handle it since it was my first time experiencing that.
#32 Innie And Outie
I was washing my hands in a bar restroom. A girl walked in and went over to the sink. She pulled a tube out her purse, inserted it into her belly button and went #1 through it into the sink. She then pulled the tube out and stuffed it back into her purse, without even cleaning it. Didn’t wash her hands, either. Just walked back out.
Look, whatever medical situation you have, fine. But use a toilet and wash your hands maybe?
#31 Unsanitary Shopping
Walmart. An overweight couple in their late 20s was ahead of me. He had some bum cleavage showing and she had her hand lovingly wedged down between those cheeks. She saw something on the shelf, so she removed her hand from his butt crack, shook it, then reached for an item to examine it before putting it back on the shelf. I abandoned my shopping and went elsewhere.
#30 The Case Of Cottage Cheese
A man who probably shouldn't have been alone at a restaurant in the middle of the night was shoving cottage cheese into his feeding tube. He really should have had a nurse follow him around or something, but from the looks of it, the poor guy was probably homeless.
He couldn't control his bottom jaw either, so he kept drooling on himself. We had to kick him out that night, as we had other customers around and it was incredibly unsanitary. He left blood on the table and dishes, and there was an unknown liquid on the chair. We skipped the sanitizer and went straight for the bleach, and took the chair outside to be hosed down by the morning crew.
#29 Using Tresses As Tissue
A woman on the metro blew her nose into her dreadlocks. Based on the crustiness and smell, this appeared to be routine.
#28 Laying Outside The Library
I was at the library getting some air outside when some grimy-looking dude started walking up to me. I mentally groaned, figuring he was going to make small talk, but all he said was, “Excuse me,” and continued walking past me into a corner.
I thought I was in the clear when he suddenly whipped it out and started tinkling on the sidewalk. I quickly went back in. I mean, there are public bathrooms right inside, Are people really that lazy?
A couple of hours later, as I’m leaving the library, I passed by the same corner and there was some other dude lying face down in the exact spot where the other dude did his business.
The homeless scene here is nasty.
#27 Not-So-Motherly Behavior
At the retail store where I work, I served a woman who was with her four-year-old son. As I was serving her, she was giving him some kisses—not just pecks on the cheek, but full-on mouth to mouth. She was basically making out with her own son in public. It was very weird to watch. My coworkers and I were very confused.
#26 Not Stopping In NOLA
I'm from Louisiana, so seeing weird and gross things is not uncommon to me at all, but the one instance that stands out to me the most was when I saw two homeless people going at it in broad daylight on Bourbon Street (the most popular street in all of New Orleans).
The whole time they were doing it, the female continued to ask people for food and money. But that's not all—someone actually gave them food and they both continued to do it while they ate.
#25 Beyond Parenting Duties
There was this lady in the store the other day who felt that the best way to deal with her baby's snotty nose was to literally suck the boogers out with her own mouth.
I'm pretty sure she didn't spit them out afterward either.
#24 Now You're In New York
My dad and I were walking on the streets of New York and a random lady came up to us, spat on us, and walked away.
#23 The Actual Burger King
At a Burger King a long time ago, my friends and I were just about to eat when a really large guy sat down not too far away from us. He had stacks of burgers and fries on his tray. It had to be a dozen Whoppers. He consumed each Whopper in one mouthful, shoving them in with both hands. He crammed entire boxes of fries into his mouth.
When he was done, he walked across the parking lot and into a Hardees. I could still see the cramming and chomping. Imagine the Guy Fieri bite on a really big sandwich. Now imagine him not pulling away but shoving more in to take another chomp. Over and over again.
#22 The Buffet Spoon
I was at a buffet one time and saw a mother struggling with her three kids. One of the older ones wanted ice cream but he was a bit too short to reach it, so his mom told him to wait while she helped the other two. As he was waiting, he grabbed the community spoon and started scratching his head with it. He then licked it, dropped it on the floor, and picked it back up. When the mom came over, she used the same spoon to scoop out the ice cream.
#21 Free Gum
Once when I was in the subway, a guy in front of me rushed towards me and picked something up from the floor next to my foot. He put it in his mouth and started chewing on it. It was an old, stepped-on piece of gum that was stuck to the floor.
#20 The Train Clipper
A woman on the train was clipping her fingernails and toenails. Another passenger eventually said something, and she acted like he was being an unreasonable jerk.
#19 One Way To Boost Your Immune System
I live in Paris and take the subway every day to go to work. While I sat in one of those very old wagons, and I saw this guy jumping in at the last second. He looked young and normal. I was on my phone and after a while, I looked up at him and he was licking the bars. I almost puked on the old lady next to me, who asked me what happened. I pointed out the guy to the lady and all she said, in French, was, "Disgusting."
#18 The Pet Lover
This guy I saw at the park was french kissing his slobbering pit bull. Drool got all over his face and he didn't care. All that saliva going down his throat... It was disgusting.
#17 Festival Feet
I was at an outdoor concert and everyone was lying down on blankets. The man next to me was shamelessly picking dead skin off of his feet and eating it. He was eating the flakey bits like a biscuit.
The weirdest part was that his beautiful pregnant wife who was sitting next to him knew exactly what he was doing and never once told him to stop. It ruined the whole concert for me.
#16 Not A Changing Table
I've seen more than one person changing their baby's diaper on the tray tables in an airplane.
If you have a baby, do that in the bathroom, or don't fly. You signed up for it, and everyone else did not. Don't make them suffer for it.
#15 Just Hanging Out
I saw a large commotion in my neighborhood by a bus stop. Police and fire department were on-site and I could hear someone bellowing at the top of their lungs.
When I got a clear view, I saw the source of the drama. A derelict was hanging off of a street sign, with his pants around his ankles. There was a pile of human dung behind him that would have put a horse to shame, with more on the way in a seemingly never-ending human parody of a chocolate frozen yogurt dispenser.
The cops and EMTs seemed intent on letting him finish before apprehending him.
#14 Consuming The Customer's Ketchup
I was eating at a diner one time and I saw the bus boy eat some fries off someone's leftover plate. Not the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, but then he went again and dipped the fries in the ketchup that the previous customer used.
I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t real and maybe it was an employee table or something, but it wasn’t. I frequent this place very, very often and know how it operates. The strangest thing is that I’ve only seen that kid once, and he seemed off when he was filling up my water and stuff.
I’m not grossed out by a lot, but that got me. I also really hate ketchup.
#13 Okay With E-Coli
I saw a guy board the (infamous) No 8 tram in Helsinki and sit down on a bench with a package of raw mincemeat in his hands. He opened the package, removed the thin paper that comes with the meat, carefully folded it and placed it on the bench beside him. Then he started stuffing the meat into his mouth with his bare hands and ate all of it in a couple of minutes.
#12 Grooming On The Go
Once on a midday regional train, the guy sitting next to me pulled out a packet of floss and started flossing. Bits of food were being flung visibly from his teeth.
He did that for like, 10 minutes. Then he put away his floss. If that wasn't bad enough, he then started to shove his fingers into his ears to clean them with his pinky finger, and he'd wipe the wax on his pants.
It made me feel so ill.
#11 Flip Flops and Fissures
Going home from school, I saw this lady wearing flip flops on a rainy day. She had these deep fissures on the bottom of her feet and every time she took a step. You could see water flowing between the fissures.
#10 Scratching On The Streetcar
I saw a homeless man riding the subway in Toronto who was scratching violently under his shirt and would occasionally scream, out of nowhere. Two or three stops into my ride, he jolted off the streetcar. Immediately, everyone in the car started to quickly move out of the area.
Turns out, white bugs were crawling everywhere. There had to be thousands of them dispersing, falling on the ground and crawling into the cracks. People who stayed in the car warned everyone else who got on, but a couple stops later a few kids who didn’t care sat down.
#9 Bowel Movements On The Beach
I was at the beach some years ago.
Put yourself in my shoes... well, flipflops. You're having a nice day at the beach with your family. You brought out some blankets, food, sunscreen, and you even have enough money to rent a couple of those giant beach chairs that can hold like, seven people. All is well, the sun is shining, the sea does not smell bad for a change...
And then, all of a sudden, an old man shows up; wrinkly and about 900 years old. With military precision, he marches towards where you're laying, stops about three meters in front of you, looks you STRAIGHT in the eye, squats, lays a massive turd, stands up, and keeps on walking.
My father and I were so grossed out we agreed to never go to the beach again.
#8 The Mucus Mess Of A Mechanic
I was getting my tires rotated at a local dealership. The mechanic pulled a vehicle around, got out, walked to the front door, pushed a nostril closed, and blew out his other nostril. Snot and nasty stuff went flying to the ground. Then he did the same to the other, however, this time it blew into his hand. He flung the snot to the ground and wiped the rest on his pants. Lucky me, my truck was next. I watched in horror as my keys were placed in his snot hand.
#7 Taped Territory
One time, I saw dog excrement taped to the pavement.
#6 Five-Second Rule
I once saw someone drop a hot dog at a football game, pick it back up, and eat it as if nothing had ever happened.
#5 The Singing Cyclist at Starbucks
A man got off of his bike and went #1 on a Starbucks sign while singing at the top of his lungs and looking straight at me (I was waiting in the drive-thru line). He even had the full cyclist attire. I just don't understand why he would do that.
#4 Big Fan Of Butter
I went to see a movie and the theater was packed. I was in one of the pairs of seats reserved for handicapped people (I'm not handicapped, there just weren't any other seats available). Across the space for wheelchairs on my right was a woman who was wide enough that she was sitting in both seats in the pair. She had a mega tub of popcorn nestled in her right arm. In the left armrest was an XL cup, but no lid or straw.
Right off the bat, she smelled terrible, even from the distance. It was an overpowering, artificial, sickening smell. I watched as she took a big handful of popcorn, then proceeded to dunk her handful into the cup. The cup was filled with liquid butter flavoring. She shoveled the liquid soaked mass into her face, dripping all over her shirt and face in the process, before reaching for another handful.
Halfway through the movie, she left to get refills of both popcorn and her butter cup. I literally don't remember what movie it was that we saw; I just remember the horrible smell. To this day, I can't stand movie theater butter.
#3 Snacking On Stale Gum
I was waiting for the bus a few years ago. Along the footpath, a large number of gum spots had built up next to the drain, and mixed in the pile were various things such as leaves, dirt, wrappers, etc. I watched a homeless man walk over, peel off some gum, and shove it into his mouth. He sat there chewing for half a minute before he spat it all back into his hand and stashed it in his pocket.
#2 Chivalry Isn't Dead
A husband and wife on the street in China: the wife squatted down over a napkin that the husband spread out. He was rubbing her lower back as she went #2 on the napkin.
#1 The Pimple Popper
I saw a girl popping her boyfriend’s face zits with both hands in a Chick-fil-A, leaving a table full of trash and zit juices behind. So gross.
