11 Things People With No Common Sense Do In Public That Everyone Else Can't Stand
VesnaArt | Shutterstock "Common sense" is often characterized by society, communities, or the people someone exists around. How they act in a specific situation is typically defined by their environment, which is why people lacking common sense are also defined by specific rules or expectations for how they should behave. In our society, a lack of common sense is synonymous with ignorance or a general sense of entitlement that steers them away from safety, societal expectations, or social norms.
Common sense is vague, but there are still many things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand. From interrupting people in conversations to boasting about goals they haven't accomplished, it's these things that instantly annoy the people around them, and sometimes even push them away from the connections, conversations, and interactions they crave to succeed.
Here are 11 things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand
1. Standing in a crowded area
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Lacking social awareness in big crowds and busy places is often one of the things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand. They're so wrapped up in their own lives and needs that they subtly disrespect everyone around them, often without even realizing it.
While it might seem like a harmless behavior, the truth is that someone's awareness of themselves and others — both on a superficial and deep level — is associated with their health and well-being, according to a study from Europe's Journal of Psychology. So, if someone is struggling to be aware in social situations, chances are they're also missing a fundamental level of self-awareness that harms their lives and relationships.
2. Skipping in line
People with a certain level of entitlement feel that they're deserving of everything, without considering how those desires affect everyone else. When they don't get their way, it's "unfair," but when they harm or disrespect others, it's nothing short of necessary.
Even for simple things, like skipping in line and pretending they didn't notice, it's entitlement and a lack of common sense that lies at the surface. They'd prefer to constantly prioritize their own convenience over respect and acknowledgment of others in public.
3. Leaving trash on tables
Laziness and carelessness are often associated with littering behaviors, but these can also stem from entitlement. If carelessness is easy and lazy habits are convenient, an entitled person will do whatever they want, even if it means making the world and their space less comfortable for everyone else around them.
Leaving trash on tables and littering in public are things that only people who lack common sense do often — not because they don't care about the environment, but because they don't care about it more than their own personal needs, desires, and impulses.
4. Interrupting constantly in conversations
According to experts from UC Berkeley, interruptions don't just disrupt the rhythm and momentum of conversations and social interactions — they isolate people from truly meaningful connections. When we notice someone is actively listening to us, it sparks the reward center in our brains, but when they do the opposite — interrupting and talking over us in these spaces — it pushes them away.
It's one of the things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand, but they continue to make space for self-soothing in the face of their own insecurity and self-doubt.
5. Boasting about goals
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Flaunting their success, oftentimes before they ever even achieve the goals they're talking about, is one of the things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand. They try desperately to take up the spotlight and overtake conversations to cope with their own internal low self-esteem, even if it simultaneously pushes people away.
While they might get a fleeting sense of excitement or attention from these conversations, experts like psychologist Marwa Azab agree that boasting about goals before achieving them actually sabotages personal progress. So, they may find the external validation they've been seeking, but at the expense of their own personal growth.
6. Ignoring rules and instructions
Entitled people tend to ignore rules and expectations in public spaces because they find them personally "unfair." They view themselves as more deserving and superior than others, which urges them away from basic acts of decency and respect. While these tendencies are often rooted in low self-esteem that can be tackled with meaningful connections, it's these same behaviors that push them away from truly making connections with others.
You can't have a level playing field in any kind of relationship or connection unless you're willing to offer space to others. Whether that's literal space and respect in a public setting or metaphorical space to be themselves and speak openly without interruptions in a conversation, they're all important.
7. Having loud conversations in quiet spaces
Whether it's talking on speakerphone in public or grabbing other people's attention with a loud conversation, this kind of low social awareness is one of the things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand. They're too wrapped up in their own desires, conversations, and excitement that everyone else's comfort is completely overlooked.
Of course, everyone is deserving of and entitled to taking up space in public, but general respect and an ounce of common decency to make it safe for everyone go a long way.
8. Being constantly distracted by their phones
The mere presence of our phones in conversations and social interactions can completely derail connection and attention, at least according to a study from Scientific Reports. However, if someone's also making space to look at notifications while talking to someone or even putting people's lives in danger by looking at it while driving, chances are they not only lack common sense, but common decency and intelligence.
Of course, they also put their own personal health and well-being at risk by being on their phones, so if it takes that kind of recognition to break the habit, so be it.
9. Playing videos without headphones
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According to a study from the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, many people use their phones in conversations and social interactions to cope with their initial feelings of discomfort, without realizing that the action undermines the entirety of the connection they're trying to make. It's this disconnect — a lack of common sense — that follows people into many aspects of their lives, but also fuels this behavior.
Even in more general phone habits, like playing videos in public without headphones and taking calls on speakerphone in a quiet room, this lack of common sense follows people.
10. Oversharing online or with strangers
Even if it feels like a coping mechanism in connections or a way to cope with social isolation, oversharing — both in public conversations and online — can have consequences. As communication professor Lindsey Aloia explains, oversharing not only places an emotional burden on others, but it also sabotages connections easily when the sense of "trust" needed to withhold this information goes awry.
If someone overhears, spreads the information, or doesn't make the kind of safe space we're expecting for it, we feel even more disconnected and alone than we did before sharing.
11. Blocking doorways or intersections
A general sense of poor social awareness often shows up in many of the things people with no common sense do in public that everyone else can't stand. They drive their cars into intersections blocking traffic, block entryways at the expense of other people, and constantly make pedestrians walk around their cars in the crosswalk.
They care more about their own destination, comfort, and convenience than anyone else.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor's degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.
