Builders and tea bags

[londonchick]

DH thinks IABU. I, on the other hand am pretty annoyed!!

Builders in our home for the last 2 months. The first month we weren't living here. Now we are back and living our normal lives - going to work, etc.

Got up yesterday afternoon for night shift to find no tea bags left in caddy. Builders have been helping themselves so I asked if they could get some more for DH in the evening and me this morning. Head honcho states yes he'll go out for them.

I get home this morning to find a few tea bags in the caddy - but from a box I had stored on the top shelf in our food cupboard. DH didn't open box so it appears builders have rifled through our food supplies and found them. They would have had to search well as I had them tucked out of sight for emergencies!

I am really quite annoyed that they have gone through our belongings and that they haven't actually put their hand in their pocket for once and stocked up. DH thinks IABU as 'you have to keep builders supplied with their tea'. Invasion of privacy (albeit v minor) obviously isn't an issue for him!

Sorry such a long story but AIBU really? Really? They managed to supply themselves with tea and milk when we weren't living here!!

Milk is another story. Don't get me started on that!!

Inertia

That may be so but the amount of time spent wasted in site meetings endlessly arguing about the odd tea bag or half pint of milk (there never were "hordes of builders" taking the staff's supplies "on a daily basis") had to be experienced to be believed.

I never realised how petty (some) school staff could be.

On the subject of the contractor's responsibility yes that is quite true but I did explain the reason why staff rooms and toilets were nearly always made available and at the schools' sugestion. Once a Headteacher / governor understood just how much space site accommodation actually takes they were more than willing to share their facilities.

Pendeen- I do see your point about sharing the space and facilities. I'm sure it ought to be possible in most schools to provide cupboard space for the builders to store their own supplies (or join in with tea club and chip in for costs :)) . If it's only the odd teabag or splash of milk then it's different from lots of people using up the supplies every day, granted. But I don't think it's fair to call it pettiness if school staff are expected , on a daily basis, to provide not only their own food and drinks but those for all the building site team.

If it's the cause of arguments, it cannot be beyond the wit of project / building managers to organise tea supplies for their own workforce to avoid the problem, surely?

BTW, sometimes milk stored in the staff room is the milk provided for nursery/ reception children- school staff wouldn't be using that for their own drinks, and neither should the builders.

As I said earlier, in my own home I happily provide builders with tea and food throughout the day- but it isn't fair if builders regard everything on site as freely available to dip into.