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AIBU?

To think ' bin dipping' is a fkin disgrace.

100 replies

chosenone · 24/04/2013 21:17

A personal vent /rant whatever. I am so embarrassed to even mention this to anyone in RL . My brother has long term drug issues and until recently we were not speaking after he stole and pawned my jewellery, for my parents sake we are, albeit it strained. I saw him earlier with a bag over hos shoulder and wearing gloves so pulled over toask what he qas up to.
He was being shifty so I asked him if he had stolen goods. He then admitted he had a bag of stuff from waitrose bins. He aopened his bag and he had shepherd s pies, cold meats and youghurt s. I made it clear I was disgusted and he said it was desperation that drove him, and he reckons another dozen to ' bin dip ' he said greggs is a other good spot. I said normal people would spend their money on food not drugs. He tried to justify hi.self. He also raid ashtray s for baccy and finds himself dimps. I have spoke to my parents and they have their head firmly in the sand, they know what he is but theres nothing they can do. NothingI can do either he Iis 35, single and has not worked for over 3 yrs. Its frustrating, disappointing and disgusting all at the same time.
We live in an affluent tourist town and it seems my brother is part of an underclass who think bin dipping and dimp hunting are normal. His ex gf used to get all her clothes from bags left outside charity shops. Ffs It was so much easier havi g zero contact.

OP posts:
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MrsRajeshKoothrappali · 24/04/2013 21:19

Don't see the problem.

He needs to eat and the food came from a bin, he wasn't shoplifting.

I'd let him get on with it.

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AKissIsNotAContract · 24/04/2013 21:20

I don't think bin dipping is all that bad really. It's a shame so much decent food gets chucked out and if someone can salvage it then good luck to them.

If you don't like your brother then go back to not speaking to him.

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HollyBerryBush · 24/04/2013 21:20

It's called 'freeganism' - a lot of people live like that, although I'm surprised they don't lock their bins.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism

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bulletwithbutterflywings · 24/04/2013 21:22

It was called skipping when I did it. If I could have afforded to buy food I would have :)

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CaffeDoppio · 24/04/2013 21:22

What's a 'dimp'? A fag end?

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HotCrossPun · 24/04/2013 21:23

The amount of perfectly good food that is thrown away at supermarkets is ridiculous.

YABU. What does it matter if he eats it? It's getting chucked away anyway - he's not stealing.

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Atavistic · 24/04/2013 21:23

I'm surprised by your horror. Yes, he's fucking up by being a junkie, if that's what you mean by long term drug issues. But the food is being thrown away, and I presume , still in it's packaging.
He could be doing a lot worse, and who exactly is suffering because of his choices? You?? Because you're embarrassed? Please!

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Fakebook · 24/04/2013 21:23

We live in an affluent tourist town and it seems my brother is part of an underclass who think bin dipping and dimp hunting are normal.

Something about that sentence doesn't sit right with me. You seem really up yourself tbh. Just cut contact. Your obviously embarrassed of your own flesh and blood.

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Fakebook · 24/04/2013 21:24

You're*

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PilchardsonToast · 24/04/2013 21:24

This is understandably a much more complex and emotive issue for you than simply - eating food from bins which really when you think about it is not that bad. It's just food that isn't being used and will be wasted if he/ someone doesn't eat it

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gordyslovesheep · 24/04/2013 21:24

YABU it's only going to landfill - at least it's being used

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Schlock · 24/04/2013 21:24

Throwing out perfectly good food when people are starving is a fkin disgrace.

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Raspberrysorbet · 24/04/2013 21:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

HollyBerryBush · 24/04/2013 21:24

When eBay was at it's height, I knew people who would hang round Woolworth back doors when the stock lines changed - Woolies used to clear the shelves and dump most of their products (probably why they went bankrupt), mind you they made a nice living from it.

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WTFisABooyhooISBooyhoo · 24/04/2013 21:24

you clearly dont understand addiction if you think it's just as simple as him choosing to spend money on food instead of drugs.

and no. it's not disgusting. lots of perfectly good, sealed food is thrown out everyday in shops, why should it go to waste if people are willing to go fetch it out?

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BasilBabyEater · 24/04/2013 21:25

I don't think your DB's freeganism is the problem is it, it's the drugs and the seeming inability to function normally in the society in which he finds himself.

I think you're focusing on something that's a detail, rather than the larger issue which is what really bugs you about him.

The bin-dipping really is the least of his troubles.

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maddening · 24/04/2013 21:25

nothing wrong imo - I think it's disgusting that some places purposefully spoil their thrown out food by way of pouring a chemical over it that makes it inedible.

the food should be offered to those that want it - the waste is terrible.

it's not just humans that could take the left over food - zoos etc could use it too.

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HumphreyCobbler · 24/04/2013 21:25

tbh I would be depressed if my brother made his living by getting food out of bins due to a drug habit. After pawning the stuff he stole from me.

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LaurieFairyCake · 24/04/2013 21:26

I think it's far more disgraceful that so much food is thrown away when people are starving the world over. And that people in this country throw out a quarter of all their food.

I'm sorry about your jewellery though, it's incredibly hard having an addict in the family.

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QueenOfFarkingEverything · 24/04/2013 21:26

Oh stop being so pious and prissy.

I get that its horrible for you watching your brother struggle with addiction, and that he has behaved really badly towards you and broken your trust.

But FGS would you rather he stole to feed himself? Its surely better that he eats at all (lots of addicts don't and suffer malnutrition as a result) and at least he makes use of what others waste instead of stealing...

TBH the real disgrace is that anyone is in a position of having to eat from bins in a society so affluent that edible food is thrown away.

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BasilBabyEater · 24/04/2013 21:27

And yes it's fucking disgraceful that the food is being thrown away. By Waitrose of all people.

Why aren't they donating it to their local food bank?

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HollyBerryBush · 24/04/2013 21:27

The trouble is though, "dates" even if it were given away, the supermarkets could be sued if anyone became ill.

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Raspberrysorbet · 24/04/2013 21:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

livinginwonderland · 24/04/2013 21:27

it's a "fkin disgrace" that shops and supermarkets throw away perfectly good food when there are people starving. i feel sorry for your brother. an addiction is not as simple as saying "i'll stop buying drugs and buy food now".

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HumphreyCobbler · 24/04/2013 21:27

the bin dipping thing is a bit of a red herring OP, isn't it? Isn't the issue that you are deeply fed up with the mess your brother is in and that he drags you into?

I am sorry for the stress you are under.

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