privacy: an anonymous poll of sorts

[balmofgilead]

There's no way to do anonymous polls here, so I turned off IP logging and people can leave anonymous comments.

YES/NO: When you are in someone else's house or space, do you/would you look through their medicine cabinet, open their dresser drawers, look through a pile of papers, etc? (I'm not talking about needing a band-aid and looking for one--I'm talking about snooping.)

Also feel free to add your thoughts: do you expect that people will do this sometimes, even if you personally feel it's wrong?  *Do* you feel it's wrong? Does it matter how close you are to the person? Does it matter if they're relatives?

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I had an experience once where a guest staying in a my room made it obvious that they'd read a college application essay I'd been keeping in my desk drawer.  Clearly, then, some people do this sort of stuff and some people think it's totally okay.  I am of many minds on this.

Comments

[balmofgilead.livejournal.com]

Hmm, maybe I'll just unlock this then. I'll delete your comment first for privacy.

[nahuelito.livejournal.com]

i do tend to look in medicine cabinet, mostly to see if they've been decorated. i spend a lot of time making my medicine cabinet look nice. so i do assume that someone might look in there. i always put papers away when people come over. i've been in people's houses though where they had bills and other stuff laying around in the open, even when i was expected. in one case i saw that someone i know has $100,000 in student loan debt. i figured if it was out, then they didn't care. looking in someone's drawers though would be absolutely off limits. even if i did look at something in a moment of weakness i would never talk about it to the person i'd been snooping on!

in sum, if it's out b/c the person didn't bother to clean up, it's sort of fair game, but looking at personal papers should be avoided.

i also try to keep my eyes off papers and computer screens when i go into other people's offices at work, but that is more about avoiding the appearance of being a snoop and also b/c it bugs me when people come into my office and start looking at everything i have out.

[princessenoire.livejournal.com]

I think it's sort of like being a cop and walking through someone's house. If I walk in and it's sitting out in the open in an area where they would expect me to be, no apologies. But I wouldn't go into a place I wouldn't be expected, or open drawers or any such thing. Hell, I feel like I'm being too personal when someone *tells* me to open a cabinet, like if we're preparing a cookout at their house.

By the same token, I make sure to never have things lying around that I'm not worried about anyone seeing, in the event someone is over unexpectedly. This doesn't mean I hide stuff, but if there are bills, or important letters, or Those Secret Pictures, well, they're going to be put away and not just sitting on the bar.

[dizoburo.livejournal.com]

no. i wouldn't go through peoples stuff. no lie, but it is tempting in that curiousity aspect, but its not my place to look cause thats wrong. and like other people said, if its out there, then its out there. although i still wouldn't reallly look. when i goto my friends place, he has bills around his computer, and i sometimes use his computer to check my email stuff. but even then, i dont really look at the bills, i just acknowledge its bills and its not for me to peep.

when i housesat for a friend of mine. well, i had to go feed her cats, and then i left. she had 3 cats, and 2 came to greet me when i came in, but i never saw the 3rd cat. and i was tempted to kinda look for it, to make sure she was there haha. but i refrained cause i didnt want it to seem like i was snooping. like i was gonna look under the beds for the cat, but then i thought what if they think i'm snooping.

so i guess i dont like snoopers? i keep my stuff that i want to keep private private and hidden...so much so, that even i forget where i put stuff haha. and if i do come across something at a friends place (while i was innocently looking for a band-aid or something), then i usually would ask them, if i really care to know or remember to ask. like, 'oh hey, greg, i was in your bathroom getting a bandaid, and i noticed you had a bloody head in a ziplock bag. where'd you get a ziplock bag of that size? costco?"

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

much like other people, i have an "if it's out" policy. like when i'm babysitting, if there are papers lying on the table, i'll usally check them out, not like pick them up and flip through them, but look to see what they are. sometimes i'll open a medicine cabinet, but not typically.