I read this story on Reddit about a guy (26M) who lives with two close friends, Alex and Ben (not their real names). They’ve shared a house for years and consider themselves good friends. Recently, they were prepping for an 80s-themed party, and Alex tried on some classic short workout shorts from that era.
Ben thought the shorts were cool and mentioned wanting a pair too. That’s when the guy joked that Ben couldn’t pull them off because his underclothes would be longer than the shorts. He casually added that Alex could wear them because Alex wears a different style of underclothes.
Cue awkward silence. Both friends stared at him, clearly uncomfortable. They wanted to know how he even knew what types of underclothes they wore and said it made them uneasy that he’d noticed.
Feeling a bit defensive, he explained that it wasn’t something he actively thought about, it just happened naturally after living together for so long. Between changing in front of each other and hanging out casually in the mornings, it was no different to him than knowing what kinds of shirts they liked to wear.
Despite his explanation, his friends still acted distant toward him the next day and called him “weird” for noticing.
“That’s not weird at all. You’re just a more observant person than they are. And trust me when I say, that will always serve you in life.”
“Totally agree! Noticing stuff like that just comes naturally when you’re around people all the time. It’s not like you were being strange about it.”
, “Your friends are being silly. You’re fine.”
Reading this made me wonder where’s the line between being observant and making people uncomfortable? Was it just a harmless joke that got taken the wrong way, or should he have kept his observation to himself? What would you do in his shoes?