Builder might have stolen my mug?!

[oiwheresmymug]

Disclaimer: I know, I know. This is not my biggest problem; if anything, I'm mildly obsessing over this to distract me from much more harrowing difficulties. Please read it in a more light-hearted tone than it perhaps comes across 😜

We have builders in. It's the first time we've ever had the money for any house jobs so I'm new to all of this. I've been offering tea and coffee, as you do. One day I used a mug for one of the builders that I guess is licensed merchandise from a popular TV show. Probably not worth more than £10 and used, but in good nick. 'Nick' perhaps being the operative word, as when I went to collect the mugs for washing up that evening, it had gone.

Now, I don't like unsolved mysteries. I am autistic, but I think this one might just be a personality trait ;) I checked the front door camera and saw he walked out sipping from the mug and later came back without it. I assumed maybe he'd left it in his van and would bring it back the next day, but he never did.

I also hate confrontation (let's play autism or personality trait again...). I want to know what happened to the mug, but I'm a bit afraid to ask. I'm alone in the house with the builders and my baby and I'd be a bit scared that he would kick off if it does turn out he's made off with it.

I think it's somewhat unlikely he's just decided 'I'll have that' but I'm not sure what to think. My mum reckons he accidentally broke it and tossed it in the skip to hide the evidence.

I don't have anything else to go on. I walked past earlier and another builder was asking him if he thinks he's going to get another trophy but I can only assume that's about football or something and that I'm getting a leeetle obsessed with this. They've been nothing but friendly and hardworking.

So, what do we think? 'You're overthinking this, make like Elsa and let it go' is a given. What happened to the mug? Do I drop in 'hey, any idea what happened to your [TV show] mug?' when I give him his next drink? Do I let it fester until I explode with an 'OI WHERE'S MY MUG'?

Having a dad who had worked in building, I'm going to say it's fallen and broken

Glad you got it back! I was going to suggest checking the scaffolding if there is any. A few years ago our mugs kept depleting during building work and suddenly I spotted them on the scaffolding boards when looking out of the bathroom window.

Wonder if he dropped it by accident outside and put it in wheely bin?

My fencers left their mugs in next door's garden. We found them a few months later when we went round to trim our overhanging bushes.

I walked past earlier and another builder was asking him if he thinks he's going to get another trophy

🏆

I love your humour about this! 🤣

He broke it. Builders never admit unless you find the evidence. Ask where it is and ask them to tell you from now on if they break anything.

Where was it?

In our house, we have mugs put by for visitors and tradespeople.

They're not our favourite mugs, so it won't matter if they go missing, gets smashed or uses and abused.

Glad it wasn't just me..

I’m going with…found in one of her kids bedrooms or back of the dishwasher 😁

My builder has 'trophied' my really long screwdriver around half a dozen times now. He makes no secret about wanting it.

He's not having it! I steal it back then pinch his Sharpie.

Fucking builders. They are so immature.

There was one day in our epic kitchen/bathroom refit... where I had to offer a trade..

'Your angle grinder and new DeWalt DAB radio for my 3 best favourite mugs .... '

Cue much ferreting about in vans, where I was offered several mugs that were not mine amongst the ones that were.

I didn't nick the angle grinder and the radio, they got left outside in the rain, the angle grinder on the front path... and were saved and put away by me (somewhere sneaky cos I knew I'd need leverage at some point!) somewhere safe...

I still came out on top, I won a lot of paint, some rollers and trays, a very nice spirit level and a couple of quite tasty screw drivers... :)

Glad you got it back. OP, one thing I picked up on in your post - and bless you for it, it's lovely that you're naturally honest - was you saying "it wasn't actually a favourite though". That sort of thing really doesn't have to literally be true! It's just a socially lubricating phrase to make it less awkward when you ask for it back.

Also probably not needed for context but I feel quite uneasy having people I don't know in my house anyway, it being my personal sanctuary and safe zone. Not because I think they're going to do anything bad. I think this one is an autistic thing. I just feel mildly on edge.

We just had builders in. I'm neuro-typical (as far as I'm aware) and was also feeling like this by the end of the work. It's men in your house. I was working from home alone most days. It's not my favourite dynamic.

Aah, sorry! Baby was fussy so we were playing and eating and then the day got away from me. It's a bit anticlimactic! I asked if he'd seen it and he wordlessly went to his van, got it out and gave it back. I wish I could tell you whether he'd been caught out or just remembered he had found it and was meaning to give it back or he wasn't sure but went and had a look; I could not read him for the life of me 😂 Perhaps none the wiser, but it's back, so I consider the mystery solved!

Also @TheTartfulLodger @Stripeysocks1981 @penjil

Plainest mugs I can find for everyone from tomorrow onwards!

This is cracking me up 😂 I am nowhere near ballsy enough to pull this off!

Oops, I meant to quote @WiddlinDiddlin here but it didn't seem to work

They've been nothing but friendly and hardworking THIEVES
Next time they get a tea off you, take out one less and say Can you dig out the other one? It's not indoors 🙄🤔

How many Trophies do they need FFS? They're not serial killers

Hope he apologised. Don't let them take the piss. You are doing a great job of looking after a baby under stressful circumstances, you don't need them stealing your stuff. Bloody trophies!? The audacity!

It wasn't hard, they'd already had several items rescued by me, after some dopey twat left them on the front path or out the back yard in the rain, and by that point we had a pretty decent relationship going with most of them (one or two rather shy chaps but the rest were a good laugh). So by that point, me saving expensive kit was a running joke!