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AIBU?

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Original poster

My cleaner chucked her cigarette butt into our hydrangea bush

165 replies

JuneM · 19/06/2024 18:51

Our cleaner does four hours a week - a couple of weeks ago I noticed a cigarette butt in a small gu pot on our back porch.. very usual as we don’t smoke! I thought it might be the gardeners, my husband mentioned he thought it was the cleaner.

this week, our cleaner who charges £18 per hour went out for a cigarette break, we have cctv at the back, and I saw that she chucked her cigarette butt into our hydrangea bush. I’m not happy about this at all. I think it’s disrespectful and disgusting that I now have to clean up my cleaners dirty cigarette butt.

I also often make her a tea or glass of water, in the past it has irritated me that she doesn’t actually put the cup in the dishwasher and I have to clean it up once she’s gone.

I know we need to raise this with her but what would you do.

AIBU?

OP posts:
Plantheads5 · 20/06/2024 07:32

I think she is very rude to use something for an ashtray and to litter your garden with a fag butt.
She's not a great cleaner either.
Start looking around, she's gotten to comfortable if the loo rim isn't even done properly.

CaptainMyCaptain · 20/06/2024 07:30

Scarletttulips · 20/06/2024 07:18

Just wow.

So you have to clean up after the cleaner has cleaned for 4 hours?

Must be so degrading.

I can't understand anyone spending 4 hours cleaning and then leaving a dirty cup on a chest of drawers. I haven't got a cleaner although I did for a while when I was working and I've never had a gardener although my friend is a gardener who works for people that are not rich. I'd be the first to call out privilege but I don't see why the OP is getting such a hard time.

Original poster
JuneM · 20/06/2024 07:19

Vergeofbreakdown23 · 20/06/2024 02:06

It's simple really, just ask her not to smoke on your property (as has been said already) BUT..... You say she left a dirty ashtray that you had to clean up a few weeks previous to this - yet in an earlier post you said you don't have an ashtray???
So did she bring her own on that occasion???

Edited
Show quote history

It wasn’t an ashtray - she used my gu glass pot as an ashtray !

OP posts:
Scarletttulips · 20/06/2024 07:18

Just wow.

So you have to clean up after the cleaner has cleaned for 4 hours?

Must be so degrading.

Original poster
JuneM · 20/06/2024 07:16

ExitChasedByCars · 20/06/2024 06:52

It might be just because you have a cleaner Easter Confused. I’ve had that in the past where the cleaner leaves dirty cutlery after using things and then I’d end up having to clean after them. It’s not the fact that I offered a cup of tea, a drink, snack etc., it’s just leaving things in the sink. I make sure the sink is empty before she arrives and my family and I always clean up after ourselves once we are done. So for her to leave things in the sink would bother me. If a cleaner does it to me more than once and I’ve politely asked her not to, and she still does it, I’d just get another cleaner. I’ve had the same cleaner for years now and I deliberately asked for a non-smoker as we’re also a non-smoking household.

Show quote history

This is why the thing about leaving her dirty mug irritates me because I go around the house before she arrives to tidy it ie I remove any dirty cups and put them in the dishwasher, I make sure the draining board is clear so she can properly clean it etc.

OP posts:
whatajoke26 · 20/06/2024 07:15

My partner smokes and he chucks his fag ends everywhere: on the floor, in the drains, grass etc. it annoys me to no end because I don't like littering! Believe me when I say that some people don't care or think about the environment.

InSpainTheRain · 20/06/2024 07:14

I'd get a new cleaner and check she didn't smoke before I employed het.

Original poster
JuneM · 20/06/2024 07:11

It wasn’t an ashtray - she used my gu glass pot as an ashtray !

OP posts:
ExitChasedByCars · 20/06/2024 06:54

MissTrip82 · 20/06/2024 06:01

I have a cleaner and a gardener and have never smoked in my life.

I still find the OP absolutely OTT and some
of the replies frankly disgusting.

Show quote history

@MissTrip82 How is the OP OTT? I’m not sure if I missed something Easter Confused

ExitChasedByCars · 20/06/2024 06:52

JuneM · 19/06/2024 19:10

Thank you Amused Maker - I will do that in a text tonight otherwise … another week goes by.

I’m quite intrigued by the nearly 40 percent of people who say I am being unreasonable - would these people really not mind if their cleaning lady chucked her dirty cigarette butt into their garden?

It might be just because you have a cleaner Easter Confused. I’ve had that in the past where the cleaner leaves dirty cutlery after using things and then I’d end up having to clean after them. It’s not the fact that I offered a cup of tea, a drink, snack etc., it’s just leaving things in the sink. I make sure the sink is empty before she arrives and my family and I always clean up after ourselves once we are done. So for her to leave things in the sink would bother me. If a cleaner does it to me more than once and I’ve politely asked her not to, and she still does it, I’d just get another cleaner. I’ve had the same cleaner for years now and I deliberately asked for a non-smoker as we’re also a non-smoking household.

Strictlymad · 20/06/2024 06:43

i wouldn’t use a cleaner that smoked in my property and needed a break to do so

parentfodder · 20/06/2024 06:40

I'd ask her not to smoke on your property. She can stand in the street if she can't wait until she finishes.

MissTrip82 · 20/06/2024 06:01

uhOhOP · 20/06/2024 05:43

Well, it's now 50%, and it's probably because you have a cleaner AND a gardener. How dare you.

Show quote history

I have a cleaner and a gardener and have never smoked in my life.

I still find the OP absolutely OTT and some
of the replies frankly disgusting.

MissTrip82 · 20/06/2024 05:59

Fuck me the language used about this woman.

‘mucky cow’, ‘vile’ what is wrong with people.

If you can’t smell smoke on her or in your house after she’s been she’s managing her smoking very well.

uhOhOP · 20/06/2024 05:43

JuneM · 19/06/2024 19:10

Thank you Amused Maker - I will do that in a text tonight otherwise … another week goes by.

I’m quite intrigued by the nearly 40 percent of people who say I am being unreasonable - would these people really not mind if their cleaning lady chucked her dirty cigarette butt into their garden?

Well, it's now 50%, and it's probably because you have a cleaner AND a gardener. How dare you.

ForGreyKoala · 20/06/2024 05:29

MythosK · 20/06/2024 05:19

Won't somebody think of the hydrangea?

😂😂😂😂

Gingerdancedbackwards · 20/06/2024 05:24

JuneM · 19/06/2024 18:51

Our cleaner does four hours a week - a couple of weeks ago I noticed a cigarette butt in a small gu pot on our back porch.. very usual as we don’t smoke! I thought it might be the gardeners, my husband mentioned he thought it was the cleaner.

this week, our cleaner who charges £18 per hour went out for a cigarette break, we have cctv at the back, and I saw that she chucked her cigarette butt into our hydrangea bush. I’m not happy about this at all. I think it’s disrespectful and disgusting that I now have to clean up my cleaners dirty cigarette butt.

I also often make her a tea or glass of water, in the past it has irritated me that she doesn’t actually put the cup in the dishwasher and I have to clean it up once she’s gone.

I know we need to raise this with her but what would you do.

AIBU?

Pannicles or flat heads?

MythosK · 20/06/2024 05:19

Won't somebody think of the hydrangea?

StandingMyGround888 · 20/06/2024 05:14

paasll · 19/06/2024 21:36

It’s bad behaviour to chuck cigarette butts anywhere into the environment. Even worse to do it on your property. I think even a 5 year old could tell you this. I cannot imagine why so many posters think it’s alright. No wonder the country is covered in litter if people don’t have an issue with someone chucking it.

I hope you haven’t got a dog who would eat them. They can be harmful.

those of you saying have a word with the cleaner - I don’t think op should need to have a word. It’s just basic behaviour not to litter. You wouldn’t expect anyone who comes to your house to chuck fag butts anywhere ever.

I’d sack her. You wouldn’t expect to ask her to wipe her bum. So why should anyone expect to tell someone not to chuck litter. Again, basic behaviour. I don’t understand this thread at all.

Yeah, when my 5 year old smokes they always put the butt in the bin.

Mamai100 · 20/06/2024 04:06

Meanwhile in the real world.....

ForGreyKoala · 20/06/2024 03:41

Honestly, the things which bother some people astound me Confused 😖

And some of these posts!!!

andyourpointiswhat · 20/06/2024 02:11

I wouldn’t have a cleaner that smoked at work. Tbh I wouldn’t have a cleaner who smoked full stop as you can always smell it on people but no doubt that would be discriminatory and violate many human rights!

Vergeofbreakdown23 · 20/06/2024 02:06

JuneM · 20/06/2024 00:10

Thank you for all your feedback - it seems like a bit of a split.

the point about the drink (usually it’s a tea or coffee and/or water and she knows she can also help herself) is not that I make her one, it’s that she then leaves the cup somewhere in the house for me to find at a later time a dirty cup sitting on a clean chest of drawers etc that I then have to put in the dishwasher or wash up.

I’m a busy working mum with a baby so finding time to make myself a cup of tea can sometimes be tricky, so to me it is a small gesture, and I’m also not sat there twiddling my thumbs when she is cleaning and I don’t have time to do my own house cleaning to those that suggested that. .

I have a good relationship with my cleaner, she is a nice lady, thank you for the suggestions to buy her a gift (I did give her a Christmas bonus of £75), I do not mind her taking a short break in the middle of the clean, she is often speaking on her phone while cleaning also. For those that asked her cleaning is okay, her ironing is very good but we have had some problems recently with things not being very well cleaned (such as the toilet loo rim) and I do sometimes feel the need to finish up when she’s done so there is a bit of underlying frustration there too.

The main problem I have was her chucking a dirty cigarette in my garden and a few weeks prior leaving an ash tray for me to clean up when I don’t smoke and we would never allow it in our home. Hence why I even mentioned the dirty cups being left out for me to also clean up as it seems like there is a recurring theme.

This has confirmed I personally don’t feel comfortable with anyone smoking in my porch then chucking a cigarette littering my garden. We also have a small puppy so yes not safe for her also if she were to find that. So I will speak with her about the smoking on our property next week and mention it is a no smoking property.

Thank you again!

It's simple really, just ask her not to smoke on your property (as has been said already) BUT..... You say she left a dirty ashtray that you had to clean up a few weeks previous to this - yet in an earlier post you said you don't have an ashtray???
So did she bring her own on that occasion???

arialllla · 20/06/2024 02:05

79Beastie · 20/06/2024 01:55

Surely she can clean for 4 hours without having a cig.

I don't think so, a woman today smoking right outside the school gates then stubbed it onto the floor to pick up a child, that's too
Much to ask for a 10 minute period, stop smoking 2 minutes before the school gates or wait a few minutes after to be away from kids and not litter at the school gates. 4 hours must be unreasonable when 10 minutes and a bit of decency is too much

79Beastie · 20/06/2024 01:55

Surely she can clean for 4 hours without having a cig.