Weaponized incompetence is a phenomenon when someone knowingly or unknowingly demonstrates an inability to perform certain tasks, thereby forcing others to take on more work. It generally occurs in two domains—in professional settings, between colleagues, or at home, between partners.
This time, we’re going to focus on the latter. From consistently botched laundry to clueless mishaps involving kids or pets, women are sharing everyday situations that leave them picking up the slack. Brace yourself—these examples can be more infuriating than funny, especially if you’re all too familiar with being the household “default.”
#1 The Way My Husband Put Away The Birthday Cake
He is mad that I’m upset.
Image source: Intrepid_Function910
#2 My Husband Inadvertently Trained Our Cat To Ignore Me
When we got our kitten, he liked us both equally. He would play with us both, cuddle with us both, follow us both around. Over time he started showing an obvious preference for my husband. And then he started ignoring me completely, even if I tried to play with him or feed him.
It turns out that every time he interacted with my husband, my husband was giving him treats because “he’s just so cute.” Now he’s fully trained to only want my husband around. Husband feels bad now that he’s realized what he’s done and will not be giving treats anymore, but we don’t want to retrain him to prefer me (and ignore my husband), and we’ve tried both rewarding him for attention, but he still wants nothing to do with me. So I guess I’m officially the spare human now.
Image source: MissHissss
#3 How My Boyfriend Opens A Can vs. How I Open Them
Not only did he do it upside down, but it’s incredibly messy.
Image source: Mushroom_CuItist
#4 Asked My Husband To Hang The Clothes
Apparently there was no more space in the rack and everything else were “small items” (kids tshirts, socks and shorts) needless to say, nothing at the top got dry.
Image source: ahorasimeaborregue
#5 My Husband Is Incapable Of Putting The Toilet Paper On The Holder
Well I guess it technically is on the holder. Going on 13 years together, one of those things that’s not annoying enough to make a big deal about but always makes me go “really?” every time I walk into the bathroom and see it.
Image source: Sad-Construction1892
#6 The Container My Boyfriend Picked To Put Away Leftover Pancakes
There was plenty of normal Tupperware…
Image source: yourdadcaIIsmekatya
#7 Gone For Two Weeks. My Husband Piled His Clothes By The Washer Instead Of Doing His Own Laundry
Image source: Own-Anteater5996
#8 How My Husband Leaves The Fuel Tank
My husband has been driving my car for the past week. He ALWAYS drives until the fuel tank is incredibly low. And yes, we’ve had to call AAA because we’ve run out of gas on the interstate on family trips.
Image source: One_Lawfulness_7105
#9 My Husband Likes Living On The Edge
Image source: Inner-Guava-8274
#10 My Boyfriend Never Finishes A Toothpaste Tube Before Opening A New One
Image source: dreaming-broad
#11 Husband Scrapes His Toast Crumbs Back Into The Butter Container
Image source: Mission_Macaroon
#12 Asked My Husband To Pick Up A Christmas Tree
I’ve learned I have to be super specific when I ask him to do things. I always forget! Love him and all of his imperfections.
Image source: jettybodie
#13 Where My Husband Dumps His Dirty Clothes vs. Where The Laundry Basket Is
Image source: ChickHarpoon
#14 I Asked My Boyfriend To Freeze The Leftover Meat And This Is How He Did It
Image source: _pastelbunny
#15 The Sink Was 3 Feet Away From The Fridge, But Sure. Label Them As Needing To Be Dumped Instead
For the record, my baby is weaning off formula onto whole milk so no breastmilk was harmed in this process.
Started packing up the diaper bag this morning and went to go grab the bottles. Behind today’s bottles were too older bottles with about 1.5oz each. They were both of an unknown date so my husband labeled them as “Dump” to indicate they needed to be thrown away.
The sink was 3 feet from where he was standing. He could have just dumped them. Instead, he went through the process of finding labels and marking them.
Image source: othermegan
#16 My Husband And 8-Year-Old Leave Their Spoons In Ice Cream Tubs And The Spoons Freeze Into The Ice Cream
Image source: ZanyAppleMaple
#17 The Amount Of Milk My Husband Left So He Wouldn’t Have To Throw Away The Jug
Image source: Strongdar
#18 I Spent 2 Hours Making A Huge Batch Of Baked Ziti To Enjoy This Week And My Husband Left It Out Overnight
He kept it, and he’s eating it anyway, but I’m pregnant, so I’m too afraid.
I asked him to put it away and he covered it in plastic wrap but left it out because he thought it needed to cool longer. He didn’t say anything, so I never thought to double-check before we went to bed.
Image source: Content_Yak_33
#19 Boyfriend Ironed His Interview Shirt On My Dining Room Table
Image source: milkinmytoast
#20 My Boyfriend Takes Half Pieces Of The Mentos Gum Because The Whole Ones Are “Too Strong”
Image source: AngleRelative4683
#21 My Husband’s Vile Gaming Chair That He Refuses To Part With
He said the initial hole was from one of our pets and then it kept getting bigger as he sat on his foot. He was very believable, but I’ll need to monitor his behavior around furniture to decide if I believe him.
Image source: Lontology
#22 What I Swept Up After My Boyfriend Said He Swept And Mopped
Image source: PaxxiCel
#23 My Friend’s Boyfriend, Driving And Playing Pokemon Go. Almost Hit A Dude In The Intersection
Image source: apathyontheeast
#24 I Asked My Boyfriend To Put Groceries Away While I Ran One Last Errand And I Came Back To This
He left all the plastic bags on the floor and on the counter and didn’t take care of any pantry items. All this in the midst of throwing a fit because I asked for his help when he wanted to sleep.
Image source: arandomperson519
#25 This Is How Many Dishes It Took My Boyfriend To Make A Bowl Of Oatmeal
Is this normal? I usually use, like, one bowl and microwave it. Then he left them in the sink for two days.
Image source: ploopysoupy
#26 Boyfriend Sees “Nothing Wrong” With The State Of The Ketchup Lid
Image source: kalethegoose
#27 Pretty Sure Hubby Does This On Purpose
Image source: jettybodie
#28 Husband Sent Me This Photo Because I Had A Ferrero From The Box Our Neighbors Gifted Us. The Box Was Empty When I Got Back
My husband sent me a text with this photo pointing out the missing chocolate. I admited to having eaten it. My husband felt I had one too many and so I came home to find an empty box.
Image source: TamtamBe
#29 The Way My Husband Eats Cheese With His Ham Sandwich
He made a ham sandwich with mayo and cheese. Only he doesn’t like his cheese ON the sandwich. He eats the chunk like a savage!
Image source: Avellynn
#30 My Husband Doesn’t Actually Wash The Pots We Boil Pasta In. According To Him They Aren’t Actually Dirty Since It Was Just Boiling Water. I Am Appalled
I caught this when I walked in on him washing dishes and he only rinsed the pasta pot and put it right back in the cupboard. It wasn’t even dry yet.
Image source: yournikkigirl
#31 My Husband Will Never Close A Draw Or Shut A Cupboard
Image source: j-lind
#32 My 6’ Husband Hung This Mirror Up Based Solely On His Height
Image source: jennfromdablock
#33 Husband Doesn’t Like His Birthday Pie
My husband isn’t a big fan of sweets but blueberry is his favorite fruit and he found out recently he really likes meringue. I asked him what kind of dessert he wanted for his birthday since he doesn’t care much for cake. He said a blueberry merginue pie so that’s what I made. I spent 3 hours on this pie last night for him to take 2 bites and say he doesn’t like it. I don’t like blueberries so I ended up binning the pie. Roughly $25 of ingredients and 3 hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Image source: plasticnaptime
#34 Boyfriend Decided To Nail Down The Entrance Rug On My Hardwood Floors. Without Consulting Me. Because It Got Caught In The Door Once
Image source: reddit.com
#35 Jokingly Asked My Boyfriend If His Moka Pot Was Going To Explode. He Said No
Image source: reddit.com
#36 My Husband Is Physically Incapable Of Finishing A Bag Of Chips
Why are people like this!!?? Every single bag still has chips in it. The Dorito bag has like 4 chips and crumbs… Who leaves 4 chips in a bag!??! I think he might be insane.
Image source: PoukieBear
#37 Husband Only Put Icing On His Piece Of Cake
I don’t think he had ill intentions, he did mention something about control on whether I wanted icing or not… but we’ve been married 7 years. He knows dang good, and well, I want icing on my cake. I bought the ingredients!
Image source: cassadilly2012
#38 The Only Thing I Asked For Was Hamburger Buns. Husband Comes Back With This And This Only
Image source: ktazhsv
#39 Husband’s Bedside Table That I Am Making A Point Of Not Doing For Him
It’s been gathering all this for 2 weeks.
Image source: bexindisbelief
#40 How My Husband Puts Fruit In The Fruit Bowl
Image source: boeiejoh
#41 Perfectly Acceptable Dinner Rejected By Boyfriend Again
My boyfriend is a very picky eater. We have been living together for a few months, and it seems like I can never get his food right. It’s honestly discouraging.
I have kids, and they happily eat my food. I cook for family gatherings and church events. I’ve never had a problem with people eating my food. It’s like every day there are new rules. He can’t eat chicken for dinner because he had chicken for lunch. He isn’t really in the mood for porkchops. It’s just “missing something”. He doesn’t eat onions, tomatoes, fish, any kind of asian food, he doesn’t eat most vegetables with the exception of broccoli. He only eats vanilla ice cream.
He doesn’t like food heated in the microwave (so leftovers are out.) He doesn’t like corn. It’s just endless. I’m old school and trying to be a good partner. He can’t really cook at all. His favorite meal is Hamburger Helper. I think a lot of it is how he grew up, but dang, it’s frustrating.
The first picture is tonight’s dinner. I added more pictures of stuff I have cooked that he won’t eat. Like he will DoorDash Jack in the Box. He’ll be apologetic, but it’s just sad.
Image source: moonrabbit368
#42 My Boyfriend Melted My Elliptical With A Heat Gun
I’m creating a home gym, so I bought a used elliptical. As I’m scrubbing it clean, my boyfriend says he’d like to try removing the scuffs “like they do to the stadium chairs with the fire”. So he grabs his heat gun and starts melting the plastic casing. It’s still functional, but every time I see it I’m reminded of how bad of a decision that was.
Image source: sans_nom_
#43 Hubby Nailed The Backing On The Finished End
My son is at camp, and I wanted to surprise him with a bedroom makeover when he gets back. Hubby asked if I wanted him to put this together as I was leaving for work. I said I could do it later. He did it anyway, and he did it wrong. He’s sensitive about it because he feels bad he messed up, but I’m still irritated that it’s ugly like this, and if I try to fix it, there will be nail holes on the finished side.
Image source: CorrectRestaurant936
#44 Hubby Works In Healthcare. Every Clean Load Of Laundry Has Gloves
I love my husband, but it’s infuriating to open the dryer and find handfuls of gloves from his scrub pockets. He told me to ask the spouses of other healthcare workers, and they will all report finding gloves in the laundry.
Image source: Silky_Tomato_Soup
#45 Moving And Caught My Husband Packing Like This
Image source: celticloup
#46 How My Husband “Closes” The Chip Bags When He’s Done
Image source: reddit.com
#47 The Way My Boyfriend Opened A Pack Of Clorox Wipes
Image source: KiwiNervous8740
#48 My Husband Unnecessarily Bags Food
I love my husband, but I want to put him in a body bag when I see this. He constantly will put food in a gallon ziplock bag, rather than using one of the MANY bag clips we own or just keeping them in the original box and closing it properly. I don’t understand. It’s a waste of bags and completely unnecessary.
Image source: thearizonamoose
#49 Mildly Infuriated By How Husband Puts Eggs Back In The Carton, Instead Of Throwing Them Away
He grew up on a horsey ranch in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. So, he saves and recycles/reuses everything. We now live in an environment pretty much the opposite of that. Hard to shake your past, I guess. To be clear, mildly is the key word here. A bit humorous as well. Different perspectives are how we grow!
Image source: Mundane_Seesaw_4425
#50 My Husband Threw Away All My Plastic And Silicone Cooking Utensils And Replaced Them With 5 Sets Of Wooden Salad Tossers
Image source: Either_Donut_3366
#51 This Is Not What I Sent My Husband To The Store For
Sent my husband to the store for paper towels and a few other items. Comes back with pie and only pie. I ain’t too mad about it, because yeah, I’m gonna eat some pie, but it sure would be nice to have some paper towels to wipe my mouth with afterwards.
Image source: macpesce
#52 Husband Hangs TV
Husband hung our new tv and insists it’s the right height.
Image source: Hoboken07030
#53 This Is How My Husband Salts His Food
Yes, he puts the salt in his hand first and then spreads it on the food. Yes, there is a perfectly functional salt dispenser right there. He insists this method gives him more precision.
Image source: Chemaroni
#54 My Husband’s Soap Dish
Image source: havenicluewhatsoever
#55 My Husband Keeps Giving Me Hot Drinks In Glasses Because It’s Aesthetic
My husband made me a coffee this morning and put it in a pretty glass, but it’s too hot to pick up. Earlier this week he made me hot chocolate and did the same thing. I just want a mug with a handle so I can pick up my drinks!!
Image source: hjierf125690
