By alyssaamarante - 13/06/2015 02:41 - United States - East Northport

Today, I decided to go thrifting to save some money. Ironically, I ended up having to pay for an emergency trip to the hospital because somebody was too lazy to wash the cat hair off their clothes. I'm severely allergic to cats. FML
I agree, your life sucks 25 349
You deserved it 8 966

Same thing different taste

Top comments

You don't bathe thrift store clothes in hydrochloric acid before you wear them?! Or am I the only one who's that afraid of other people's germs?

lolhailsatan 23

As a former secondhand shop worker, I will say that no, the store does not wash the clothes before they are sent out, big industrial size washers are mad expensive to buy and operate. However, if something has cat hair on it, we would lint roll the garment, or if it was completely covered, we would toss it. But anyway, i think it's common sense to wash the clothes before putting them on your body, so I'm saying YDI

Comments

You have to pay to go to the hospital? That's...just wrong.

You had to PAY for your own trip to the hospital?! I really want to say YDI for not living in a country with free health care

You have no idea where that shirt may have been or what it has touched. Always wash clothing before wearing it. Even brand new clothing items! Thousands of people paw through those new cloths everyday and they may or may not wash their hands after using the bathroom. The thought alone is nasty, why risk it?

YDI. Always, ALWAYS wash clothes you buy from a thrift store.

Korra_fml 23

I used to volunteer at my local Goodwill... Some people do wash their clothing donations, but others don't. all the clothes get emptied out into giant bins, so even though some pieces were pristine when received, they may pick up animal hairs and whatnot from contact with clothes that were brought in dirty. Furthermore, Goodwill encourages customers to try on the clothes before they buy them because of the no-return policy... Sure, you could re-donate the items if they don't fit right, but you would still be out however much they cost. The two main take-aways from this comment are this: 1) If you have such severe allergies as OP does, thrifting probably isn't for you. And 2) While it is admirable of you to wash all of your clothes that you want to donate (to Goodwill, anyway) you're better off just not. They will just get dirty again before anyone has a chance to buy them, so it's just a waste of your time, effort, water, electricity, and laundry soap.

OP could have been trying the clothes on or touched it while looking.

Elisabetha Aarron 18

If they have a severe allergy you should take extra precautions and at least think about who may possibly have donated the clothes. If just by being around it makes them react maybe thrift store aren't the best place for them for this very reason, although some places do clean the clothes and some people do clean it before donating if you are that allergic then maybe spending extra for clothes to prevent these kind of situations is worth it.

Did anyone stop to consider that it may have been *another customer's clothes* that the OP had a reaction to?

It's amazing isn't it? You'd think they would've read a few of the other comments before posting.

Why wouldn't you wash your clothes before you wear them

yeah... that's your own damn fault. I wash my clothes and still have my dogs fur all over. It's a pet owner thing. Wash your "new" clothes before you put them on.

Your weird allergy is not the problem of some random person who donated their clothes. YDI

TallMist 32

Yes, the OP DEFINITELY deserves it. It's most definitely the OP's fault for having the allergy and actually expecting to wash their clothes before giving them over to a thrift shop. They DESERVE to have to spend tons of money to go to the hospital because an allergy, which is obviously severe, acted up because someone didn't wash their clothes. This is sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.

TallMist 32

Also, cat allergies is not so extremely rare.

ratatata_fml 5

I feel you. Last time I went to the thrift store, some idiot left nails in the parking lot and I ran over it and popped my tire. I had to work so I have my bf the money to get a new tire. He comes back with just the rubber part. Not the middle wheel part. Then the lug on it was too rusted to change. I paid $60 on kits to change the lug but that didn't work. And finally had to get a row to get it fixed. $3 at the thrift store and $150 to get the tire fixed. Totally worth it. :/

Wow. That's a huge FML in itself. I almost thought you were joking, no one can have that bad of luck can they?