Or am I being a parcel stealing, curtain twitching busybody?

How much of the OP did you read?

I would have commented on the video how you don’t take drugs and posted a note saying you took them in so they didn’t get stolen. But if you see anything again you won’t be so neighbourly. And I’d also let them know you will put them back in the street for them.

Look it’s really simple. Leave the parcel where you found it. Not a wishy washy note looking for gratitude or a FB post trying to control people’s opinion. She shouldn’t have to waste her life coming to your flu house for her parcel. She shouldn’t have to interact with you at all. Just. Return. It. Don’t knock. Don’t say anything.
No more bullshit.
And if you’re so sick you’re wiping your nose with your hand repeatedly in the few seconds it takes to go down a path you should be more responsible about infecting others and stay home. Out of all of this, that’s what I’d pull you up on if I were your boss.

And this is why I will never EVER take packages in for people - ever. They can sort their own safe space, or arrange to pick it up at one of the parcel points that you get in supermarkets.

I had something slightly similar happen over a decade ago - not in the area I am in now - my previous home. I took in a package (when the courier couldn't get an answer from next door) and I put it in my hallway. The neighbour was new, (a couple in their 30s,) and they had only moved in 3 weeks before.

I took it around to them the next day as they didn't get in til 9pm. I took it to them to save having it cluttering up my hallway. They didn't come for it. The woman answered the door and thanked me for it. Long story short, after a couple of weeks, she reported it as undelivered, and said she hadn't had it. It was an item worth £500, and according to the records it had been delivered to me and I had signed for it, and I had clearly kept it. 🙄

I couldn't prove I hadn't kept it, and no matter how many times I knocked on the door, she wouldn't answer. I NEVER caught her as she always went out of the gate at the other side of her house. I got bugged by the company asking me to return the item or take it to the person it belonged to, and threatened me with the police. I phoned them and told them I had handed it to the neighbour the next day after it came. They ummmed and ahhhed and clearly didn't believe me. They said they would be 'taking further action.'

As luck would have it, we were moving house soon, and a few weeks after I spoke to the company (and about 7 weeks after I had taken the package in) we packed everything up and moved to our new home. Never heard anything about it again. The new occupant of our house didn't have our new address thankfully, and I never heard about it again. It was really stressful for a couple of months though!!!

Once bitten and all that. I never take packages in for people now. It's a pain in the arse anyway, and people take the piss if you keep taking their shit in.

And no, I NEVER expect anyone to take mine in. Indeed I don't WANT them to!

tl;dr As a pp said @TwilightSkylightsAndA40WattBulb I do think you are catastrophizing. I doubt anything will come of it. Put it back where you found it and PM the person it belonged to saying 'sorry I thought I was helping by taking it in. I won't do it again!'

You sound lovely OP. Don’t worry too much about it. You’ve done a kind and thoughtful thing that has been misinterpreted. Chalk it up to experience and hopefully you can laugh a little at it very soon.

PS I am quite sure you don’t look as bedraggled as you think

People don’t always read things though, do they?

Just post on the Facebook post. Say it was you, explain why you did it and that tou put a note through their letterbox.

Totallly agree. I’d be annoyed at being accused not apologetic and worried.
I’d make one reply on the FB post along the lines of “We’ve had lots of issues with parcels being stolen from the street and I put a bright pink note through your door at the time to say I’d taken them in and another since then when my OH tried to bring them round. I won’t be doing you any more favours, come and get your parcels.”
Forget about the coat, the cold, tripping up etc. it’s all noise, you tried to do a favour for a neighbour and they have been dicks about it.
This is why we don’t have a sense of community any more.

The risk of dropping them back outside could be that the courier left them when the recipient was due back soon, while you might leave them when they’re out a long time. You then get blamed for any theft and they demand recompense. I think you’re stuck with them until you can hand them over.

You can't just be sacked from the civil service! There is a process!

Did you not leave a note, or say something to their ring doorbell?

Much higher if you’re rubbing your snottery tissue hands all over their parcels as well as notes that you’re popping directly through their letter box. Gross.

This totally.

This is such a weird post. I wouldn’t be being all apologetic, I’d be furious that I’ve been posted about on a local group and accused of being a thief and a druggie. But then again I wouldn’t have picked up the parcel in the first place.
Whether they respond to your note/FB post and come and collect, or you take the parcel round to them, I’d be demanding an apology for their defamatory comments, when (even though ill-judged) you were just trying to be nice.

I think you were trying to do a good deed and whoever has posted the video has completely jumped the gun and been unnecessarily rude in their description of you. I'm not clear how long ago all this has happened, but it feels like it should all be resolved easily once the neighbour is home and you can reunite them with their packages. I wouldn't go putting them back on the doorstep as that just makes you look guilty of theft. Personally I would probably find it a bit odd if a neighbour I didn't know removed packages from my doorstep, but if they did it with good intentions and left a note it wouldn't bother me too much.

Don't do it again, you left the note let them collect and hopefully the person who's parcels they are will post on the original post saying you didn't steal them. But don't get involved anymore. My neighbour and I are tucked are in a corner on our estate and will take in each other's parcels occasionally as we both work from home. But otherwise we keep out of any thing else

You have their parcels so I would take them back leave them at the door and leave a note on the actual door to explain and then leave it at that and don't try and help neighbours again

They jumped the gun but you'll know not to do it again as not all good deeds are appreciated.

Give the parcels back to them with an explanation.

But the recipients know the situation

Yes I know-I was just curious😊

They didn't know you or ask you to take the parcels in, so to all intents and purposes you did steal them. You need to see when they're in, put the parcel back on doorstep, ring doorbell and just run away, lol. If you are too embarrassed to face them.

It's a shame they accused you of being a druggie but you left a note so I don't see why they said that? Don't tell your employer. There's no need and it's ridiculously petty.

Just don't do anything like that again obviously.

If It’s any consolation OP I would have been really grateful to you for picking up my parcel. Having a delivery just left on the front step is an open invitation to thieves. It’s all very well posters on here saying that it’s up to the owner to nominate a safe place - half the time you can’t do so, and if you do the courier often ignores the instruction anyway.
To be honest your neighbours don’t come over as being particularly nice people and their posting on social media is a clear indication,like some of the responses you’ve received on here, of just how aggressive people have become nowadays. The automatic reaction seems to be to think the worst of everyone.
Unfortunately what you thought was a good deed has ended up causing you upset. Don’t let it put you off doing the same again, most reasonable people would be grateful providing you don’t give them the opportunity to think it’s been stolen and drop it off as soon as you know they are home.

She. Did. Read the first post.

But the recipients know the situation - they know the parcels get left there, they wouldn't order them otherwise. They are clearly willing to accept the risk otherwise they wouldn't order - that's their choice as adults. OP should never have taken it upon herself to get involved.

If you did nothing wrong and have evidence then I don't know why you are worrying. Are none of your other neighbours supporting you - I mean they know you're not the 'local druggy' surely?

The note is mentioned in the OP.. do people not bother reading?