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!

[reindeermania]

Fag butts- I do. It's mostly terraced houses with people in a deck chair on the doorstep or the street here too- or even just leaning on a window sill.

I'm saying front garden- I have a 1meter "garden" -concrete stretch but most don't.

It's still okay. It's not hurting you. Well- fag butts and litter are appalling and thankfully whilst we are all nosy and common, we are clean at least

[ThatssomebadhatHarry]

We had neighbours like this. Whole family in front garden swigging cans, swearing, smoking. Kids in paddling pool, fat mum flashing her dirty bra to passing cars. They would have made the Gallaghers look tame.
The reason they didn’t use the back as it was where the two massive vicious dogs in the back.

[fagbutts]

@reindeermania I don't think you get it, there is no front garden! no enclosed area to each house! I could understand that...

[reindeermania]

I'm working class and live in a working class area of wales. It's perfectly normal here and I take a camping chair out in the sun and sit with a cider in the front garden (really classy we are). As do lots of my neighbors. Chat to anyone passing by and read a book. I like seeing who's about and people watching. If that's nosy, well, no problem, I'm happy to be nosy. Why on earth would it annoy you?

[NoSauce]

To be sociable maybe? Chat to people passing by and or so they don’t fume out their NDN sat out.

[AnnieMay100]

Wonder if you live on my road, we are one of the only families who don’t do this. Would rather not be watched by neighbours personally it looks awkward

[ReapersHowler]

My mum sits in her terraced houses front garden and even has a wood burner out there. Her back garden is about 5ft by 12ft though and the front garden is a large enough square to fit benches all round the fire. They often sit out there drinking.

I wouldn't and it makes me cringe but that's my own prejudice.

[MotherOfDragons90]

East not easy

[MotherOfDragons90]

Must be the sun? Our row of houses have easy facing gardens. Perfect for me cause I love to have a coffee on the patio in the lovely morning sun then be able to sit out in the shade in the hot part of the day but ndn are sun lovers and sit out the back til the sun disappears then they all migrate out the front!

Annoying cause you feel like you have to chat when you walk past but I normally just try to shout a cheery hello and run on in!

[megrichardson]

I hate this but I know it's my problem cos I'm middle class

[fagbutts]

I don't think I would mind so much if it wasn't for the rubbish and constant fag smell, just personally don't see why they do it! Id rather sit in the nice sunny back garden on my comfy chair than on the grass 😂 (btw none of them have young children and all have nice gardens!)

[Justgivemesomepeace]

I live in a terraced street. When the sun comes out loads of the neighbours on the opposite side to me come out on the front as there backs are in the shade. They have full sun on the front. There is a group of about 4 adults and random children in one garden with a couple of plastic chairs, wendi and her mate a few doors down on sunbeds smoking, old billy on his stool in between them. In fairness billy is there regularly chatting to anyone that passes. Classy round here.

[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

[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.

[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

[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.

[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 🙌

[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.

[OurChristmasMiracle]

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

[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.

[nopen]

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

[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.

[fagbutts]

@Aimily lol that cant be helped ! X

[fagbutts]

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

[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.