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AIBU?

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Original poster

Why am I like this? Disgusting car

215 replies

StupidFaces · 28/04/2023 07:26

I’ve always been quite a scruffy person when it comes to housework etc but in the past few years I have learnt to keep my house relatively clean and tidy.

My car however is totally disgusting. Empty water bottles everywhere, crisp packets, yogurt pots, chip wrappers, odd shoes, used tissues, random paperwork … there is nowhere to sit other than the drivers seat. It stinks.

A few weeks ago I had to give someone a lift unexpectedly and I was embarrassed - there was even a used nappy on the floor in the back. She opened the passenger door and gasped. I told her to just Chuck everything into the back but I was mortified. I gave it a proper good clean after that, got rid of all the rubbish, vacuumed it, put an air freshener up … a week later it was back to normal.

I don’t even know how it gets so bad. Am I just a lazy sod? I don’t even seem to see it until someone else needs to get into it (or DH uses it and complains about the state of it)

OP posts:
RandomGeocache · 28/04/2023 08:28

I don't care about cars either. I couldn't give two hoots about the brand or performance or whatever and all I am interested in is a reliable method of getting from A to B.

But that doesn't mean it's an extension of a rubbish bin either. I can't really imagine a scenario which would have me eating yoghurt in the car.

KittyAlfred · 28/04/2023 08:28

I have 2 footballing sons so my car is full of dried mud, and it’s not worth cleaning it properly till the football season ends. But I wouldn’t leave empty food packaging in there. Why not simply take it out of the car when you arrive home? Presumably you have a handbag that you manage to take from the car to the house, so why not bring the rubbish in at the same time?

Hoppinggreen · 28/04/2023 08:30

I have had really gritty cars before, mostly down to the kids snacking.
However, now when we get out at home everyone takes their rubbish and puts it straight in the bins, helps that we park next to our bin

emmathedilemma · 28/04/2023 08:33

my car is often dirty due to outdoor activities and transporting kit around but yogurt pots and a nappy is just gross! Please tell me you don't eat yogurt while driving?? Use the bins when you go to the petrol station or even on car parks there's often one nearby.

MaltedCow · 28/04/2023 08:35

You can get little collapsible car bins, maybe try that if you stick one in the passenger footwell you can put rubbish in it as you go along. Try and empty everything you take with you back out when you get home, I know when it's hammering down taking backpacks, coats, shoes and other bits out is a ballache but those bits left in mount up quickly because of the confines of the car. If you can keep it semi clutter free, plan to empty your car bin weekly and then hoover it every 4-6 weeks depending how messy you are. Just getting into the groove with some systems will definitely help.

Ohow · 28/04/2023 08:35

Putting aside the filth, if you give someone a lift in a dirty car, don't expect them to clean it!

I hate it when someone says "oh just chuck it in the back". NO! It's your mess, you chuck it in the back!

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:37

Why not simply take it out of the car when you arrive home one of those ‘sounds easy but is not’

I get home. Get two year old out of car, into house, cat winding round my ankles demanding food, seven months pregnant and desperate for a wee. Feed cat, sort DS, wee, then DS wants something then this happens and that happens.

Yes, I could make them all wait (perhaps not my bladder) but it isn’t easy to ‘just’ do it. Especially when you’re in and out and in and out!

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:37

Or they could take the bus @Ohow

Lobelia123 · 28/04/2023 08:38

To all the people sniggering at the outrage - its not just mess is it. Some empty chocolate bar wrappers and a jersey left slung in the back seat would be fine. but an actual pissy nappy left mouldering in there for a week?? Come on, that crosses the line from dirt into filth. If you dont find that horrible, theres something wrong with you. A wet nappy is maybe not as bad as a poo nappy, but after a week the reek of pee will be nasty. Stop trying to be oh so cool. There are actually standards in the world and its not twee or silly to hold to them.

Gtsr443 · 28/04/2023 08:44

Kanaloa · 28/04/2023 07:58

You know if the car smells it will make you and your clothes and your grandchild smell too? Sitting in a car that ‘stinks’ will rub off on you.

Stop eating in the car. Make a new rule that you use it only for travel. If you are starving hungry and can’t cope until you go home, stop somewhere and eat outside.

Filthy stinky car eaters sitting in their cars eating yoghurts up to their ears in grandchildren's excrement.

Get out of your stinky car and eat your yoghurt by the side of the road like civilised people do.

EmmaEmerald · 28/04/2023 08:45

Do you drive a lot for work? Why are you eating in the car?

EmmaEmerald · 28/04/2023 08:46

Lobelia123 · 28/04/2023 08:38

To all the people sniggering at the outrage - its not just mess is it. Some empty chocolate bar wrappers and a jersey left slung in the back seat would be fine. but an actual pissy nappy left mouldering in there for a week?? Come on, that crosses the line from dirt into filth. If you dont find that horrible, theres something wrong with you. A wet nappy is maybe not as bad as a poo nappy, but after a week the reek of pee will be nasty. Stop trying to be oh so cool. There are actually standards in the world and its not twee or silly to hold to them.

Yes, I mean a used nappy
your friend must have been desperate for that lift.

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:47

I would rather a wet nappy left in a car than chucked out on the road or grass, in fact. I’m guessing OP left it there as no bins at hand.

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:48

And I don’t know whether to laugh or be disturbed by some of these posts.

Seems yoghurt and nappies are really triggering for some people 🤷🏼‍♀️

Nannyfannybanny · 28/04/2023 08:48

I'm curious to know if you sit in the car eating/drinking, while driving... just as dangerous as using a mobile phone,and sometimes the police will prosecute. My DH was a vehicle tech,and yes he did refuse to get inside some cars. We have a dog,we had 3,all long haired,in the back space where they should be. He's told me tales of enough stinking hair on the front seat to knit a dog with,and bags of dog waste dumped in the car.

Thisbastardcomputer · 28/04/2023 08:53

I think you are my ex sister in law, lol

elephantmarchingin · 28/04/2023 08:54

I really struggle with the car too. Not sure what it is. Think it's a case of I'm so relieved to get home I just want to get inside haha.

Portandlemonade · 28/04/2023 08:57

Weird.

How can you allow your car to get in this state?

Is your home the same?

Nicecow · 28/04/2023 08:58

Nannyfannybanny · 28/04/2023 08:48

I'm curious to know if you sit in the car eating/drinking, while driving... just as dangerous as using a mobile phone,and sometimes the police will prosecute. My DH was a vehicle tech,and yes he did refuse to get inside some cars. We have a dog,we had 3,all long haired,in the back space where they should be. He's told me tales of enough stinking hair on the front seat to knit a dog with,and bags of dog waste dumped in the car.

Yeah also realise that anything not in a seatbelt becomes a flying object in a high speed crash. So something like a can or glass bottle would kill you if it collided with your head

RudsyFarmer · 28/04/2023 08:58

My kids trash the back of my car but there’s no litter in there. Just bits of chocolate and crisps ground in 🤦🏻‍♀️

RampantIvy · 28/04/2023 08:58

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:47

I would rather a wet nappy left in a car than chucked out on the road or grass, in fact. I’m guessing OP left it there as no bins at hand.

I agree, but there is nothing stopping the OP from taking it out of the car when she gets home and putting it in the bin. That isn't ADHD, it's pure laziness.

SheilaFromDownUnder · 28/04/2023 09:01

Do you park on the street at home? Aren't you embarrassed by knowing that your neighbours are seeing that?

ShitFacedOnRetsina · 28/04/2023 09:03

I carry a pack of nappy bags and stuff my rubbish in them and take it out every time and bin it off. If the rubbish isn't sticky or dirty, you can reuse the same bag and this way a £2 pack of 100 nappy bags will last you the rest of your life.

Becoming clean and tidy takes effort. Learning how to use things like coin operated vacuum cleaners takes effort. How have you got through life without learning how to do the basics like this OP?

Tlolljs · 28/04/2023 09:03

You’re making sound like these things just magically appear in your car!
You must have left a dirty nappy in there, a empty yoghurt pot, empty bags of crisps. Take responsibility and clean it. Simple as that.

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 09:04

I don’t think it is ADHD. I think sometimes it’s just juggling a lot of balls and one falls. In this case, it’s a car. No one is living in squalor, no one is abused, hurt, harmed. It’s a wet nappy. I do think some posters have lost a bit of perspective.