The “Special” Rag
I lived in a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with my then-boyfriend. He begged to let his best friend stay with us while he gets on his feet, since he was moving from several states away. My boyfriend explained that he had some interpersonal issues like anxiety and told me how he was a bit traumatized from an involuntary stay at a mental health ward as a teen but was otherwise harmless.
He was a lump and did nothing for a couple months. But I don’t know why I let him stay after learning about his special rag. A few days after he’s living there, I ask my boyfriend what’s up with the rag draped on the side of the tub, because it looks and smells gross. My boyfriend goes beet red and storms out. He then starts yelling at the friend.
“You freaking promised this wasn’t going to be an issue again!” This is how I learned this guy has a single rag he used to wipe after pooping. He didn’t want more than that single disgusting rag, and he cleaned it by running hot water through it and ringing it out to dry. No soap because those unneeded chemicals could damage his precious posterior.
Remembering the smell made me vomit when my boyfriend explained all this to me. I don’t know what they worked out after that. I never saw the rag again and I didn’t ask because I was scared of the answer. As disgusting as that was, it wasn’t evil or dangerous. But the last straw came after months of him doing nothing but playing our gaming systems.
One day, he used my game pre-order codes (back when they gave you stuff for that) while I was at work. Sounds petty, but we were both so done at that point. Honestly, I’m still angry about it as I was never able to get that gear from my favorite franchise at the time. His hygiene and smell was the worst, but he also didn’t cook, clean, or pay towards anything.
Story credit: Reddit/tepidCourage