To ask my neighbours if somethings wrong?

[spencerprattisaprat]

New neighbours moved in about 7 months ago, ever since then we have the routine - we take the bins out and they bring the bins in.

It was never spoken about but it's what we did with previous owners and seemed to be working fine past 7 months. However, past two weeks, although we have taken the bins out, my neighbours have only taken their own bins in.

AIBU to approach them asking if everything is okay? Or should I just stop taking their bins out? Why would they suddenly stop, pretty rude to be honest.

[quote spencerprattisaprat]@SmokedDuck I know it's the same woman who has always taken them in as I've seen her doing it the last two weeks and just leaving my bin on the curb. [/quote]
This is the height of lock down boredom and may actually be the post that defines it op 😃

Ah the neighbour bin thing.

We have a self appointed bin monitor who appears to have made it his job to put everyone's bins back on their drives for them. Which is a very nice kind thing to do but bloody annoying when it goes wrong and your bin ends up at number 9 and you get number 19's very disgusting bin instead.

OP grab the opportunity and do your own bins. I would love to break free but it's been going on that long I don't have the heart to tell him Plus I'm too lazy to get up at 6.30am to get there before him

@ElizaLaLa

Maybe they don't want to touch your bins because of covid 🤔

Probably this ^^

I live in a little row of eight terrace houses, and we are all off road, and have to wheel our bins down a little track to the road where the bins go out, People usually take their own bins out, but I will often bring back the eight empty bins later, as the other neighbours are often out, and I am the oldie here,who doesn't go out much at all.All the bins have their house number on, so I just bring them back,and leave them at the correct house.

Did you just take their bins out without speaking to them? That's a bit weird.

I would hate any kind of regular bin related obligation.

They can take my life, but they will never take my BINDEPENDENCE! 😂😂

[quote spencerprattisaprat]@SmokedDuck I know it's the same woman who has always taken them in as I've seen her doing it the last two weeks and just leaving my bin on the curb. [/quote]
Maybe her husband always did it before, and she didn't realise she was supposed to take yours in too?

I think it's likely someone else is doing it for them as they are ill or otherwise indisposed.
I would just sort your own bins out from now on.
You could always be a good neighbour and put a note through the door asking if they need anything as you wondered if they were ill.
You shouldn't be so quick to be offended!

@spencerprattisaprat

Yeah since they didn't give me the common courtesy of letting me know they were ending our arrangement, I will not do them that courtesy either. Arrangement over. I just find it strange and wonder what we've done but oh well.

The common courtesy will be letting them know about your assumed arrangements when they first moved in. Yeah,it is strange indeed that people are not able to read your mind about ''arrangement'' they had no idea about .

Ce n’est pas le jus de poubelle.

We used to do that here and we’ve all stopped touching each others bins since covid.

[quote spencerprattisaprat]@Amijustagrump I worry that I have somehow upset or offended my neighbours yes. That's why if they let me know they were stopping the bin taking in that I wouldn't be worrying about it. [/quote]
I would just assume someone's doing it for them. I'd pop a note through to ask if they'd like me to continue to take their bins out or to call/ text if they'd prefer I didn't ‍🤷🏻‍♀️

I wouldn't worry too much. Me and the neighbours always do each others. However the first couple of weeks dh was working from home he brought the bins up and left the neighbours. It was about the third or fourth week when I came home early and saw what he'd done, so I told him.
It just hadn't occurred to him, after that he did it. I'd have been really embarrassed if the neighbours had spoken to me about it-it would have felt like a complain even if they hadn't meant it like that.

@spencerprattisaprat

Yeah since they didn't give me the common courtesy of letting me know they were ending our arrangement, I will not do them that courtesy either. Arrangement over. I just find it strange and wonder what we've done but oh well.

Been weird, by the sounds of it.

I think you’re over thinking it.
I guess it is more normal practise for each house to put their own bins out, and maybe only bring someone else’s in if you just happen to be passing by, whoever’s home first - if you are friendly neighbours.
To be honest it would irritate us if neighbours took our bins out, we are both at the end of a longish shared drive - we like to empty all our household bins just before taking the bins out. And sometimes don’t have enough rubbish to bother taking out at all.
If I was your neighbours, rather than make it an issue, for a few weeks I’d make sure to get our own bin out quickly before neighbour did it for us. Or just mention it politely in passing.
You’re now in an awkward position though - if you don’t put theirs out they might miss bin day! Can you make an excuse to pop around for a chat about something else, and casually mention it in passing.
Please don’t let the posters who go into palpitations about random door knockers know that I suggested this. 🤣

This has bin going on far too long, you wheelie need to get over it now

I don't think you sound weird, you sound like a good neighbor. Leave their bins, I wouldn't bother my arse with them. On meeting them, polite smile, walk on!

Put your bins out a day early. Do not put theirs out. They should see and realise they need to put their out in enough time. Hopefully this will break the cycle and you won’t need to actively bring it up in conversation (typically British response!)

summerhouse.
Bindependence Day. is inspired. Haha

Don’t have a conversation with your neighbour about this, just do your own bin, it won’t be that you’ve done anything wrong so don’t worry about it.

To be honest, I wouldn’t want to touch a neighbour’s bin. (Don’t particularly want to touch my own even!) If you took mine out, I’d repay the favour on that occasion but would try and not make it a repeated routine. So actually, I think this is your neighbour’s way of gently breaking the bin cycle as they don’t like it for whatever reason. They just got there before you and took their own bin out/in instead of talking to you about it. It doesn’t mean they don’t like you.

Maybe they sometimes have last minute extras to throw in their bin but it’s awkward as you’ve already put their bin out?

I've never spoken to my neighbours about mine but they put my bin out and bring it in
I also have a mystery neighbour that de ices my car. If I go out at 6am or 9am, it's been scraped for me

I always bring my neighbours bin in - or he brings mine in - whoever is there first.

But we take out our own. I am very last minute and usually have bags of rubbish I need to add.

I would leave it - not a big deal, it’s only a bin and it sounds like you don’t really know them

Its not just a bin day.

Its a ritual that brightens up my day.

Its feng shui outdoors in motion really.

It helps me feel ready to take on the world.
Gives me a bit of purpose.

It was never spoken about but it's what we did with previous owners

Yeah since they didn't give me the common courtesy of letting me know they were ending our arrangement

Did the previous owners leave a crystal ball behind so that the new owners are somehow able to know about this "arrangement" that nobody has told them about ?!