People that stand outside their house.

[fagbutts]

AIBU to ask why the F do people stand outside the front of their house smoking etc when they have a back garden? I live in a terrace and have to walk past everyone else's house to get to my own and every time the sun comes out they are sat outside on the tiny bit of grass they have smoking when they have big back gardens!

There is rubbish and fag ends everywhere and sometimes after a long day I don't feel like having a 10 min conversation to get to my door 😌

To top it of there is a bench outside my window about 6-8 foot away and they sit their all day drinking at weekend, feel like a right moaning old cow!

[Sparklingbrook]

Good excuse to be nosy.

[twoheaped]

They only get the sun at the front?
They want to be sociable?

Have you asked them?

[BrightYellowDaffodil]

Some terraces are divided into flats - the upstairs flat won’t have access to the garden.

And is it really the end of the world if people are out chatting at the front of their houses? Aren’t people always decrying the loss of communities where everyone knew their neighbours?

[fagbutts]

@BrightYellowDaffodil no they are houses, and they aren't chatting to the neighbours they have there mates round, don't ask the neighbours to come for a drink 😂

[lyralalala]

I don't let anyone smoke in my back garden as in our street all the living rooms back onto the garden. It's the same reason the kids' trampoline was in the tiny front garden as well.

No excuse for fag ends and rubbish though.

[HennyPennyHorror]

Maybe they just like to watch the comings and goings. The throwing mess about is not on though. Why don't you say hello instead of looking down your nose?

[lyralalala]

Not that the trampoline smells - that makes no sense sorry!
It's less disturbing for smells or noise out the front than at the back is what I meant.

[Cherrysoup]

My bil moved because he couldn’t cope with the neighbours opposite sitting on the doorstep! We turned down a fabulous house because the garden faced the wrong way for the afternoon sun.

[fagbutts]

@HennyPennyHorror I don't look down my nose, I speak to them regularly actually! More wondering why people do it, Iv never known anyone who chooses to sit out the front rather than in the comfort of there own back garden, the only thing that bothers me is walking past the cigarette smoke and the fact they don't pick up after them self.

[hidinginthenightgarden]

I actually would prefer them to smoke out the front rather than in the back where there smoke blows into everyone elses garden too.

[fagbutts]

@Cherrysoup the sun is unbearable in our gardens at this time of the day! I have to shut the blind, its only at the front in the morning xx

[Aimily]

It is odd I agree, but when my oh broke our back door last summer so if I was letting the dog out to toilet first thing or last thing I only had the option of the front for a few weeks.
Admittedly it's weird walking past a house and having someone open the front door and just stand there, equally awkward opening the door and standing there watching the dog pee 😂

[WhiteDust]

I agree it's not about looking down your nose at them.
I lived in a terrace and this happened constantly. The trouble is you're so close that even though you have your own outside space, other families are only metres away.
Smoke blowing through front or back windows is the worst.

[fagbutts]

@hidinginthenightgarden thats true but my kitchen is at the front so blows in through the window!

[fagbutts]

@Aimily lol that cant be helped ! X

[SapphireSeptember]

Are they the same kind of people as my housemates who have to stand in the narrowest part of the kitchen next to the door, leaning on the counter-top looking at their phones, instead of using the chairs or sofa? Cos that drives me bananas. (Nice to see older people have been infected by this smartphone nonsense too. ) They also try talking to me just after I've woken up when I stumble down to kitchen in search of food and tea. I'm anti-social, I'm even more anti-social first thing in the morning. I need one of these mugs.
www.amazon.com/Shhh-Almost-Now-You-Speak/dp/B00LXIRP6A?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
Headphones generally mean people don't talk to me, or if they try I can ignore them. I'm with you on wanting to avoid small talk at the end of a long day, I hate small talk and I need time to decompress after I get home from work. I don't care if that seems rude to some people.

[nopen]

Suggest you. Read 'Watching the English' by Kate Fox. This phenomenon is explained well.

[NaturatintGoldenChestnut]

For the same reason some people park in a lay by on a beautiful day to sit in their car drinking a cup of tea and reading the paper.

[OurChristmasMiracle]

Because the kids are in the back garden and they don’t want to smoke around them?

[WorraLiberty]

Iv never known anyone who chooses to sit out the front rather than in the comfort of there own back garden

That's something I love about my street.

Lots of people sit out the front, watching their children playing and chatting to other neighbours.

[EmExtra]

That sounds crap! Does seem odd they wouldn’t use their back garden. The mess I would find the most grating, I used to live in a ground floor flat and the person above used to smoke on their balcony above my front door then flick her cigarette ends into my front garden, drove me mental! Definitely try earphones 🙌

[Purplecatshopaholic]

My Ex used to sit round the front rather than the back. He said it was sunnier. It isnt. He was just nosier! Personally I dont mind either way, I dont smoke myself.

[fanciedabitofachange]

My neighbours do this. In the summer it's unbearable, as they stand out there until late at night and I can't open my windows because of the smell/noise

[YoThePussy]

The men three doors up from me smoke outside my front door at night, I have a streetlight so they can see to light their fags. After several mornings of sweeping up the butts I gathered them together and dumped them on their front door step. Because I am artistic I made a Turner prize type installation.

Seems to be better now but that might be because a fox ripped open a black sack of my boy and girls’ used cat litter recently and scattered the contents (after eating the turds). Can’t see the butts for litter residue.

[QueenKubauOfKish]

Yes! This always used to mystify me when i lived in a terrace too. People just hanging around on their front doorsteps - and this was a naice street where everyone had a house and a large back garden and most had fancy conservatories. I didn't like it because I'm shy and awkward and although my neighbours were mainly lovely, I didn't want to have to chat to them all every time I came and went.

But for extroverts maybe they do it because they like to engage and be involved with what's happening and chat to everyone. weirdos