If you are one of the many women who cringe in disgust on finding that your man left the toilet seat open, then you are in the company of a huge majority of your peers worldwide. A whopping 75 per cent of the women surveyed by a British retailer, rate men’s obnoxious and disgusting traits as the ones they hate the most, with leaving wet towels on the bed managing a second place finish.
While the survey looked only at British women, their Indian counterparts also agree with much of the study’s findings. Freelance writer Anushka Patodia says it’s very irritating when she finds such “gross behaviour” around the house. “Much worse than leaving the wet towel on the bed is leaving it on the floor. The towel gets dirtier and the entire room gets messy,” says Patodia. “But my ultimate pet peeve is when they come home from work or the gym and leave their socks in the shoes itself. This creates a stink around the whole house, which lingers on for long, even after the sock is gone,” says Anushka.
It’s not so much the obnoxious behaviour by itself that irks women, but the fact that men refuse to learn to behave better. “There is little you can do but tell them again and again and pray that they listen the next time, even though you know they won’t. So eventually give up and do it yourself,” says Ashwini Iyer.
Meanwhile, media professional Tanushree Bhatia says she considers herself lucky her boyfriend is even more obsessive about cleanliness. “But to compensate for that, he is extra careless about everything else. He’s really forgetful and you need to remind him at least six times before he does something right for the first time,” Tanushree said.