To think my DM is being a bit stupid?

[Sparklfairy]

I had a phonecall from my DM this morning, worried. She has a skip on the drive and found 3 burly men rooting through it and taking stuff. She went out and told them to put it all back. They did but sneered and laughed at her, and sounded like they were rude and intimidating.

Once they left, presumably she's regretted going out to them. She lives alone and we both think at some point they will come back to take stuff from the skip. One also meandered his way down the side of the house which leads to the back garden with an unlocked garage, but she caught him in time.

Anyway, she's now worried she did the wrong thing confronting them, and that they'll come back, maybe take stuff not in the skip etc. I live alone too and I know how horrible it is to feel anxious and paranoid in your own home (rational or not).

The thing is... she has CCTV. It just points the wrong way and doesn't cover the skip/side of the house. I suggested she turn the camera to cover the skip for peace of mind. She refused

She's now gone out for the day. I just don't understand why she wouldn't just turn the camera around, so that if they did burgle her/put a brick through her window ( ) / whatever, she'd at least catch them in the act. Why wouldn't you!? So now she's got no CCTV AND no car on the drive, showing clearly she isn't home

I'm quite annoyed and distracted from work now. It would have taken seconds and given her peace of mind. And me (selfishly). AIBU?

“ If someone was rummaging through your wheelie bin it wouldn't be acceptable and perceived as generous of them to free up space; it would be bloody weird and an invasion of privacy!”

A skip is not the same as a wheelie bin. A bin can contain used sanitary protection, documents, anything. It is private. A skip is not for those things. That’s why culture allows people to go through them.

Also, if I have a skip in my front garden, I don’t want people coming up and knocking on my door. Fuck that. It might be considered “polite” but I’d rather they just got on with it. I don’t need to be coming to the door every time someone fancies a poke around.

Very happy when some travellers took elderly radiators which I could hardly lift off my drive. Saved me a trip to the tip. Also remember a friend taking a huge curtain out of a skip which turned out to be an original William Morris once cleaned and relined. Take what you like out of a skip just don't add to it.

Found myself agreeing with both "Ask first before rummaging through my skip" and "Just get on with it and don't bother me each time you want to have a look".

Definitely agree with turning the camera around for peace of mind, incase something happens.

Why is everyone focussing on the fact that apparently these blokes should have been allowed to take what they want from a skip, rather than that their actions led to a lone older woman feeling intimidated?

You can’t take something from a skip without the owners permission- it’s actually an offence - theft by finding. So she certainly did right by pulling them up on it. I have had people knock on the door and ask if they could have a look and then they have asked for specific items which is fine.

I would find it intrusive. I can't explain why, I'm autistic and am quite guarded generally, so probably a knock on from that.

It's cheeky but it wouldn't bother me, I had people take stuff from the drive when we were doing our kitchen but the bloke left a note and said if I wanted it back to call him !, if she's worried then she should move the cctv but I wouldn't think they'd do anything to be honest

Not the point I know, but whenever we've had a skip, we've been asked not to out carpet in (or they give you a very small allowance) because it's not recyclable and they get charged extra for it.