Be polite. Don’t break anything. And thank the host for the invitation.
Those are the keys to being a good house guest – or so I was taught. Apparently it’s not quite so simple these days.
According to a recent UK study, there are at least eight things you ought to avoid if you want to snag a return-invite to someone’s home.
And from snooping around the house to turning down food, I reckon you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who’s never committed at least one.
The biggest faux pas, according to homeowners, is when a guest is on their phone during a meal. That was deemed worthy of the top spot by 89 per cent of the 1009 people surveyed.
Hardly a shocker.
But second place was a bit of a surprise: at least 77 per cent of respondents took issue with people asking for their WiFi password.
Sure, you should definitely draw the line at someone downloading the entire Game of Thrones saga, but c’mon people — surely we can spare the odd megabyte here and there.
Listen: The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss a set of house rules to turn you from grot to glam. Post continues after audio.
The rest of the rule book is a touch more old-school.
Numbers three and four, for example: no shoes on the carpet and no feet on the furniture. (Hear that? It’s the sound of Nannas all over Australia shouting, “I told you so!”)
Not far behind in sixth place is the old faithful: turning up empty handed. After all, when you’ve slaved away over a hot Thai takeaway, the least someone can do is bring a nice drop to match, right?
But whatever you do, don’t bring your dog. That doesn’t count, no matter how cute and entertaining it is. In fact, dragging your uninvited pet along came in at number seven.
If any of these no-nos are news to you, you might want to peruse the full list below. And notes, take notes.
- Being on your phone during lunch/dinner.
- Asking for the WiFi code.
- Wearing shoes on the carpet.
- Putting your feet on the furniture.
- Looking in bedrooms without permission.
- Turning up to a dinner party without a gift.
- Bringing a pet without asking first.
- Turning down food.
What house guest behaviour gets your blood boiling? Tell us via Facebook or in the comments below.
Top Comments
Is it rude to turn the toilet roll around if someone has it facing the wrong way...? I may or may not have done that....
"... surely we can spare the odd Megabyte here and there."
Ms Jepsen, you're clearly not part of the rural data drought. My whole household gets 15GB per month for the ridiculous price of $110 and can't afford the thoughtless u-tube watching ways of urban visitors
Yes, I happily give my wifi password to any guest but we've got unlimited data. I wouldn't be so free and easy with it if we had a limit. :\ Especially if we were paying for anything over the limit, rather than just having the speed throttled. We had a plan like that years ago.
What...you mean how things are in Sydbourne isn't how things are EVERYWHERE?! I'm shocked ;)
Wow, had no idea that costs were so high. Will you eventually get NBN?
Gu3st, I live in a middle/inner suburb of Melbourne, & my area doesn't have the NBN.