WIBU to shout at neighbour rummaging through my skip?

[Bobthebobbin]

Moved to a new area and managed to fall out with a neighbor already.

I came home the other day to find an old man rummaging through my skip and a pile of "treasures" on the floor that he was helping himself to.

I asked him why he was on my property and what he was doing, he said he needed a few bits! He then proceeded to turn his back on me and carried on sorting through the skip. DP was at home but the man did not knock or ask to remove anything.

I said he can't just come on to my property and help himself to whatever he likes without asking. He said it's in the skip so fair game.

Things got a bit heated and I shouted at him to get off my driveway.

I am furious but also shaken up by an attempted burglary when we first moved in so perhaps that experience is colouring my view.

Genuinely cannot tell if IABU.

I think YABU. It’s rubbish, it might have been more polite to knock and ask, but at the end of the day it’s stuff you were sending to landfill anyway.

I mean he probably should have knocked first and asked but at the same time you were throwing the stuff out anyway, so...... ?

I can't see that he was doing any harm. Plus you now have more room to get rid of stuff

YANBU He was a totally CF and bang out of order.

Seems really intrusive. UWNBU.

If it's in the skip, what harm is he doing?

If it's in a skip it's rubbish BUT the problem is be thinks it's okay to come onto your driveway THEN not leave when he's asked to CF.

Meh, I'm an arsey cow but couldn't get myself worked up about this. You are throwing it out, what does it matter if he takes it. People putting their own rubbish in my skip would annoy me more.

If someone can make use of it instead of being sent to landfill, it's a net good. Skips are fair game IMO, and YWBU. If you didn't want the stuff disposed of, what was it doing in a skip? He wasn't burgling you. He was arguably doing you a favour by increasing the available space in your skip, and certainly doing the environment one.

I mean in some ways he's doing you a favour - moving stuff so there's more space in the skip.

I couldn't get worked up about it.

So you'd rather something goes to landfill instead of being reused? People are so fucking territorial.

Well technically it's still your property so people should ask, but I think most people see skips as fair game and whenever we have had one we just acceot that stuff will disappear. And as Lois said it means you have more room again!!

I would have been delighted to see my rubbish being re-purposed, and as he's a neighbour and elderly I'd have been friendly and welcoming and had a chat and got to know him a bit. He's probably completely harmless and could be actually a nice old feller. Now you'll probably never know.

He was probably legally in the wrong, but I'm puzzled by your point of view. I would have been happy to see anything I was throwing out being recycled.

I'm assuming the skip was somewhere he'd have had to walk past if he was going to come to your door to ask for permission, so not a particularly objectionable place for a stranger to be.

Usually when there's a thread about skips, it's to complain about other people throwing stuff in. Having paid hundreds of pounds to have my old bathroom materials carted away, I'd regard anyone helping themselves to my waste as at least trying to save me waste disposal fees.

YANBU. He's supposed to ask first before taking stuff. Doubly so if the skip is still on your property!

Legally it can be considered theft. Stuff in a bin or skip is still yours until the rubbish collectors take it. After all, you might change your mind.

adaline

If it's in the skip, what harm is he doing?

I guess it's not really about the junk, it's how I felt.

He was rude turning his back on me and speaking dismissively, and I felt it was intrusive to come on to my property and do whatever he fancied without permission. DP was at home, the lights were on so he could have easily knocked.

YABU. What ActualHornist said.

Huge over reaction, it's practically part of British culture to
rummage in a skip and recycle nowadays.

You could have just kept on neighbourly terms and asked him to knock in future.

He should have knocked on the door to ask if it was okay.

I do think him not leaving when asked is odd and out-of-order, if your shouting was almost entirely in response to that, that's a bit more understandable.

Going onto someone's property and going through their rubbish is absolutely bizarre and I'd have told them to get lost too.
People saying it's no big deal, would you be ok with someone walking up your driveway and going through your household rubbish?

Taking out is fine, putting stuff in that's cheeky!

YABU
It cuts down on waste and gives you more space in the skip.

I'd probably have given him a hand! I'd much rather stuff we were chucking went to someone who could make use of it than landfill. I couldn't really get precious about someone presumably just on my driveway tbh.

"On my property" did you really repeatedly use that? Is this your first home by any chance?

He was just taking stuff you were throwing out, it's no big deal and it's better that they are reused