To think the bloke who told me off for taking grit out of the grit bin should fuck off

[Birdbox181]

This morning, I had to get my elderly neighbour to a hospital appointment. She has bone cancer in both hips. Her drive way was very slippery this morning. A fall for her could be fatal. She's on crutches.

I drove to the nearest grit bin I could find, filled a bag for life, probably a quarter full and put it down on her front door step, drive way and the pavement outside her property.

As I was putting it into my bag a bloke stopped and reprimanded me, telling me it's not for private use. I explained the situation and but he wasn't interested.

What an absolute cock.

This thread is hilarious. The stealing the grit is my favourite reply 🤣

My council's website ( I checked) is very clear that people must not use it. You cannot just help yourself to something the council leaves out surely? Thou shalt not steal is pretty important. However check because another local council might well have bins from which people are allowed to take grit.

I live in a country with no grit bins.
But if you aren't allowed to use the grit what's it for?🤔

@SwerveCity OP said it was 7.30 in the morning, not sure I would know where to buy it from at that time in the morning

It's supposed to be just for the immediate surrounding area not a free for all. That said I don't begrudge the op in the slightest in her situation.

It's grit. It isn't as if the op aquired a gritting wagon and went rogue.
Perspective is needed here.

Also the OP was using it for a vulnerable lady, so using it for public good and community.

It actually is for public use.

Literal use of the words fuck off are granted

Public use in public places.

I am in support of what OP did, but salt bins provided by the council are not for people to use on their private drives etc.

That's what I wanted to put but thought I'd let men off for once.

If op was to sign up to a scheme for people to drive others to hospital for appointments, would her safety gritting be public or private .
If I wanted to buy grit, the most likely place is our large hardware place which is up a steep hill with a steep slope into the carpark. They didn't open until 11.00 a couple of mornings last week, for safety reasons.

They are often put in place for a reason like near us there is one on a steep slope so people put the grit on the slope early in the morning if it's very icy then another person might put a bit more later in the day if still icy. It's not for private use. If my drive is icy I put a mixture of grit and salt I buy for that purpose. You should suggest this person should buy herself some.

You could have driven to a garage or supermarket and bought some. Everyone in my road, we are on a slope buys it themselves. I see them going into their garages and getting it out.

@caringcarer maybe at 7.30 in the morning she didn’t realise she would need to have grit and not everyone has shops etc nearby that would be open at that time, and to make sure she would still be able to get the lady to hospital on time

Aha, well, it depends on your perspective. And how much else you've got going on in your life.

Techincally the grit bins are funded by the local authority or local council, so there's probably about 2 millograms of grit in each bin per person. The OP "owns" as much of the grit in the bin as the bloke who stuck his beak in where it wasn't required.

But as you can see from this thread, there are some people who are happy to bend the rules when it suits them, but don't want anyone else doing it, ever, and feel entitled to police other grown adults decision making. And can't resist some good old fashioned closed thinking.

The grit is a helpful tool for when it's icy under foot, so cars don't slide down hills and old people don't slip and break their hips.....

Still though, helping a an elderly neighbour with bone cancer seems like the right thing to do? I mean I’m not religious but pretty sure Love Thy Neighbour is a thing too? Sometimes the right thing to do is quite clear.

Whereas, with all the back story, it was clearly the nice thing to do, the man who complained at you is also right. He just saw you driving up and filling up your bag. He knew nothing about the 'story' behind it.

It isn't for private use. People are supposed to buy their own grit / salt for their own property - he is right. Yes, the story (that he didn't know about, and still doesn't know if it is true) kind of morally makes it not so bad, but seriously, it would have been quicker to just use salt from your own kitchen on it, if stealing the grit necessitated you driving to find a grit bin.

But why didn’t OP just grab some table salt from her neighbours cupboard and sprinkle on the path?

@Pinkissmart who is to say the neighbour had enough to do a path, drive and part of the pavement? My MIL has had health problems with salt so never uses it for cooking, so can't imagine she has a big bag of it at home.

Maybe, the OP can order some grit from the council, as it appears some councils offer this and then she can decant some back into the grit bin and everyone will be happy. Maybe arsehole chap could do this as a neighbourly, community minded thing

I have a salt grinder which might do a few square inches. And a small amount of dishwasher salt.
We have an open fire, the ash helps a bit. But it's messy.

Thank you OP for helping a vulnerable elderly neighbour. Even if it’s not meant to be for public use surely a sane person would turn the other cheek when hearing your side.

He's a twat busybody.
It's not like you were using it for your own amusement.

He was a twat.. ignore.

I am tired and misread a pp as ‘he is a twatsome busybody’ - twatsome is now my new favourite word. Do people really give energy to this sort of thing? Why on earth does it matter if someone takes a small amount of grit to help someone vulnerable?

Having had a bit of a think about this, I'd say it was because she didn't have enough salt in her kitchen, nor the neighbours. The only salt I've got in my house is half a small box of salt flakes which wouldn't even do my doorstep.

I doubt OP picked up a 5kg commercial bag of Saxa then said nah, put it back in the cupboard and got her car keys and went out on the hunt for something a bit more controversial. She was trying to get an old sick woman to hospital, not make life more difficult and piss people off.