Man asks friend to change clothes before sitting on couch; friend leaves and ghosts him.

Everyone has different household rules, but finding ways to gently enforce them when you're hosting guests can get awkward really fast. If you're hosting friends with different ideals around cleanliness and comfort, it can feel tense to tell them their way of relaxing isn't allowed.

But ultimately, it's your home, and you should be able to enforce whatever boundaries you need to.

In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a man asked if he was wrong for asking his friends to change clothes before they sit on his furniture. He wrote:

"AITA for requiring that guests change clothes before they sit on my furniture?"

I’m 20m and I live alone. I’m a very neat person. My mother kept our house pristine growing up and I helped her for as long as I can remember. I recently moved out into my own place and something that I started thinking about was how many germs from outside we track into our houses. I always change out of my clothes as soon as I get home but whenever I have guests they don’t.

And I have no idea where they’ve been or what their clothes have been exposed to. About a month ago, I bought a bunch those clear disposable raincoats and I started telling people who I invited over that they could bring a change of fresh clothes to change into or wear one of the coats before they sit on my furniture. I also offer to wash the clothes that they change out of, if they want to.

My girlfriend doesn’t have a problem with this and started just leaving clothes at my place. My mom and my little sister have also been okay with this new rule. But I invited a friend over yesterday (I told them about the clothes thing before they came) and when they got here they were surprised that I actually enforced it and said “You’ve got to f*$#ing with me.” I told them no, I’m serious and then they left.

They haven’t been answering my messages either. I was talking to my mom about it today and she said it was pretty excessive and unreasonable to expect everybody to do. I disagree but I'm kind of double-guessing myself. Am I in the wrong here?

People did not hold back one bit on OP.

Cultural_Section_862 wrote:

YTA and need therapy, I don't say that disparagingly at all. I sincerely think you would benefit from professional help.

jaeger555 wrote:

YTA. You have OCD my friend. Yes, there are germs out there, but the likelihood of them doing harm to you is near zero. This type of thing gets worse over time, so get help now.

Big-Refrigerator6766 wrote:

YTA. Your mom is right -- it is excessive and unreasonable for you to expect people to change clothes when they come over (assuming you don't suffer from some sort of condition that makes you unusually susceptible to infection). I'm not a psychologist but it sounds like you should consult one.

Always_travelin wrote:

YTA. Wow...just wow. Words cannot describe how socially unaware this post is. You can go with the 'my house/my rules' mentality, but don't expect any friends to visit, ever. Who the hell regularly visits a friend with a change of clothes in hand?

pigeon888 wrote:

It is honestly incredibly extreme. In fact, I've never heard of that. If you're that much of a germaphobe then I suggest getting a cover or throw for your furniture and washing it after guests leave. Many people here may say, 'Your house, your rules' but I think you'll run out of friends fast with those rules. For your own best interest I'm saying YTA.

Clearly, OP is TA, but an AH who might need some serious help.