Social Question

jonsblond's avatar

What makes you feel guilty?

Asked by jonsblond (43801points) July 22nd, 2009

Do the little things bother you? Such as not returning a phone call or sending a thank you note?

Or do you have larger problems? You drive while intoxicated but have never been caught. You’ve cheated on your spouse and are afraid to tell him/her.

How does this guilt affect your daily life? Does it require you to lie to your loved ones?

Do you think this guilt affects your health at all?

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35 Answers

peyton_farquhar's avatar

If being sexy is a crime, then yes, I’m guilty.

Tink's avatar

I am guilty of being in love :)

kenmc's avatar

I’ve got away with theft a couple of times. I stopped when I was caught.

I’ve drove drunk probably 100+ times while only being busted once.

I am who I am. I don’t care about law and will ignore it when it gets in my way.

peyton_farquhar's avatar

@boots
and I will ignore the law that forbids me from slashing your tires.

Darwin's avatar

I am a mom. Of course I’m guilty.

kenmc's avatar

@peyton_farquhar That’s rude! I would never do such a thing on account of the rudeness evolved and if you would would slash tires if there wasn’t a law against it, you are immoral.

peyton_farquhar's avatar

@boots
driving drunk is pretty fuckin’ rude too. Be glad your tires are the only thing I’d slash if I caught you doing that.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

I only confess my sins to Evelyn, and since she already knows me as well as I know myself, she just laughs and does that weird little thing with her finger that gives me a hard on without touching me. Then she tells a terrible pun, farts until the whole room smells like sandalwood perfume, and offers me to ride around on her bosom while she wades in the ocean.

kenmc's avatar

@peyton_farquhar Punish upon harm. I’ve never harmed anyone or anything. I know myself and know when too much is too much. That’s not for the state do decide.

SeventhSense's avatar

I live my life in a state of guilt. As soon as I think I’ve shed it, it rears its head like the cold hand of a frostbitten friend on my back.
Someday I will exorcise these demons of doubt, worry, questioning and fear and I imagine it will be when I can release the ghost in the machine which is my mother. Following like a “stalking butler”(as Maynard James Keenan would say) behind all my intentions and rattling my chains to remind me of my darkness….
But then I shrug it off again and get closer to my true nature.

monsoon's avatar

Mm…

I’ve been caught stealing;
once when I was 5…
I enjoy stealing.
It’s just as simple as that.
Well, it’s just a simple fact.
When I want something,
I don’t want to pay for it.

I walk right through the door.

not really

DominicX's avatar

Of course I’ve felt guilty. I’ve felt guilty after knowing that I just made someone (IRL) angry or sad or disappointed or the like. It’s not a good feeling. I’m guilty of doing that, I’m guilty of lying to get out of things, I’m guilty of feeling jealous and selfish at times, I’m guilty of underage drinking, I’m guilty of speeding, etc. Probably could think of more, but this is all that’s coming to mind right now.

Bobbilynn's avatar

I don’t feel guilt to much, tho I do many things, one might feel guilty for!

Parrappa's avatar

I feel guilty when I stay up real late doing nothing at all and then sleep until 1–2 PM in the afternoon.

noelasun's avatar

I feel horrendously guilty when I keep my SO up late at night. I know he works so much better in the morning, and that he needs to sleep early in order to make the most of his day, but we’re long distance, and I miss him, and he’s two hours ahead of me… and so I regularly guilt trip him up way past his bedtime.
I know I shouldn’t… but its so hard not to even while feeling guilty!

tiffyandthewall's avatar

i think my conscience is drunk 75% of the time.

i feel guilty about silly things that i really shouldn’t feel guilty at all for, and don’t feel guilty for things i maybe should feel guilty about, until much much later.

whatthefluther's avatar

Thanks to a Long Term Disability Insurance policy that I contributed to for twenty years, now that I’m disabled and no longer able to work, I enjoy an income greater than that I ever earned thanks to it being tax-exempt and with cost of living adjustments. I feel guilty that most people in my situation don’t have such a policy, are barely getting by and have and will continue to have financial worries for the rest of their lives. And all of that is on top of serious health problems.

cookieman's avatar

Guilt is one of my great motivators. Paired with self-loathing, the one-two punch of “you should be ashamed of yourself” and “you suck, do better” gets me up in the morning.

whatthefluther's avatar

@Bobbilynn….Well, thank you very much….it is very kind of you to say so.

JLeslie's avatar

I do feel guilt at times. The biggest guilt in my life is having been sick and not being able to be the wife I want to be for my husband; we have both been cheated.

I can’t remember ever lying because of guilt.

I think the emotion I spend more time on that is not productive is regret, or worrying about having a future regret.

OpryLeigh's avatar

Walking past homeless people on the street. I don’t have much money but even when I am at my most skint, I always have more than they do. Things like that make me feel really gulty.

Hambayuti's avatar

There are a lot of things that make me feel guilty but what makes me feel more guilty is when I don’t do anything to correct what I’m feeling guilty about. This is what I try to avoid.

CMaz's avatar

Having what others don’t.

evelyns_pet_zebra's avatar

@peyton_farquhar why thank you, that is the nicest compliment I’ve had all day! It was very nice of you to say so.

cak's avatar

I feel guilty when I am sitting in a chair, foot propped up (injury) and my husband is doing more than his share of the work. He says it doesn’t bother him; however, I feel so bad. I just want to say, “let me do it!” I suggested it once and he said what would anger him is if I pushed it too far and delayed my recovery or made things worse…just to make myself feel better. I never thought of it that way, he has a point, but I still feel guilty! vicious cycle!

chyna's avatar

I feel guilty when I feel resentment that my mom expects me to spend every Saturday afternoon with her, taking her to the store etc. She isn’t well and can’t do these things herself, but then, my Saturdays aren’t my own anymore. Then I think to myself that she may not be around much longer and I need to enjoy the time I do have with her. Then, I resent the entire day has been spent with her… It is a vicious cycle.

Simone_De_Beauvoir's avatar

I’m with @Darwin
I’m a parent, I feel guilty often for not spending MORE time with my kids, or MORE time with either of them in particular or for asking for help, for having others watch kids for me, for napping…I don’t take care of myself all that much…but I do believe in living to my full potential which does take time away from home and thus, the guilt…

In general, if I feel guilty, I resolve the issue. I have no buried secrets.

kenmc's avatar

Existing makes me feel guilty. Sorry that I pooped on you, Earth.

Darwin's avatar

But poop is full of useful nutrients and is a form of recycling elements so other plants and animals can have access to them. No need to apologize for pooping, unless you do it where someone else might step in it.

monsoon's avatar

Where does poop in the toilet go? Does it go someplace natural? (Fluther question…?)

Darwin's avatar

@monsoon – It depends a bit on where you are located. In our town it goes down the samitary sewer to the sewer treatment plant. The the germs are killed and the solids are removed. Then the clean water is released into our bay and the solids are packaged up as a soil enhancement. If you live outside the city limits, then it goes into a tank under your yard where microbes clean it up a bit and the water leaches out into the soil. Then periodically a truck comes and pumps the solids out. The solids then go to the sewage treatment plant to be sanitized and packaged up as a soil enhancement.

In one town we lived in, the town next door had no sewage treatment, so everything was pumped directly into the sea. That meant that when you saw brown things floating on the water when the wind was from the East, you did not go swimming. It also meant you couldn’t eat the local oysters because they neatly gathered up and stored the Hepatitis germs.

irocktheworld's avatar

When I’m in a fight with someone or when I say something bad.

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