Some friends came over to our house for dinner, and one of the guys brought a girl none of us knew. We were all sitting around the dining table, eating and chatting, when I noticed the girl repeatedly getting up and disappearing somewhere in the house. It seemed strange, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.

Later, I went into the kitchen and opened the bottom drawer where I kept household chemicals, cleaning supplies, and brushes. I was shocked to discover several used sanitary pads stuffed inside the drawer and piled on top of everything. I was disgusted and immediately called the girl into the kitchen to ask why she had put them there when there was a perfectly good garbage bin available.

She looked at me as though I was making a big deal out of nothing and explained that she simply didn’t want the men to see them. I told her that hiding them in a kitchen drawer—especially one containing household chemicals and cleaning supplies—was completely unacceptable. I made it clear that privacy was no excuse for leaving used sanitary products in someone else’s home.

I made her clean the drawer, properly wrap and throw away the pads, and then asked her to leave. Needless to say, that was her last visit to our house. I understand that periods are completely normal, but respecting someone else’s home and disposing of personal waste properly should be just as normal.