AIBU to crush cans?

[Agoatonarock]

I think I might already know the answer.

I went to a work do - a fundraiser thing. Towards the end of the evening, when everyone was swapping tables and lots of people on the dance floor, a colleague came and sat down at our table - she sat down and looked at bit horrified at my two empty cans which I had squashed when they were empty. She said, "who's been crushing cans??!" and it was noisy and immediately the conversation moved on, but it was me! I had squashed them. Is that a horrid thing to do? I didn't know.

I mean, obviously I don't imagine the queen crushed cans at state banquets. I wouldn't do it at MIL's fancy Christmas dinner table. But is it so horrid that I should not even have done it at a rowdy work do with paper plates and drinking from the can?

So weird

All so very very weird

I am guessing everyone was drowning in booze, OP included

Sounds like you have hangover-xiety

I don't understand why she was horrified. Crushing them means you fit more in your recycling bin, which for a business means lower waste costs.

I thought this was going to be about recycling.

Why is this weird?
I wasn't drunk.

I am asking if crushing cans is known to be an unpleasant habit.

I often miss social cues, so I need to know.

whyever not?

Trust me OP - this is all very very weird .

To make it weirder…. Let me guess, this happened 8 years ago?

I was not crushing them to recycle them. I mean - they did go in the recycling at the end of the night, but they were just lying side by side on my paper plate where I had been sitting.

Don’t sweat it OP, I had to train myself not to rip labels of bottles or shred beer mats or napkins into tiny pieces. now THAT was an annoying and antisocial habit! And even if crushing cans was a ‘horrid habit’, who cares what a rando at a work do thinks? 🥰

No. Quite recently.

No Op
it is not
the woman probably wasn’t horrified
she was probably a bit pissed and being daft
forget it

How recently?

Do you live with anyone? Ask them and they’ll tell you basically what I have just posted

Thank you for this answer!! I appreciate you being helpful and kind.

The fact that you had to train yourself not to do it suggests that it isn't a nice thing to do? Thank you.

Crushing cans at a table is rrally weird.

They are never empty which means whatever was in them will now be on the table. Also crushing them leaves sharp edges which nobody wants to pick up.

my ds does this, it is a bit meh

How exactly are you crushing the cans at a table? Because my first thought was using a can crusher then I thought about stamping on it with the heel of a sturdy boot. I’m intrigued now.

Also, please don’t give a fuck about what someone thinks about it. It’s absolutely not a social faux pas. If you’re at a party that’s serving drinks in cans then it can’t be that fancy!

It would annoy me a bit because where I live, you return empty cans to the supermarket and crushed cans wouldn’t be accepted. And because of the mess and sharp edges as a p.p. said. But not to the extent that I’d berate someone (unless they were my child or relative).

Only because it left loads of mess for someone else to clean up usually, that was the reason it was antisocial. With your can situation, the staff clearing tables either have to put a crushed can or a non-crushed can in a bin, it makes little difference to them. Sometimes crushed cans are actually easier to clear away (I’ve worked waiting tables) if you’re using a tray as they’re less likely to fall over and off the tray as you walk.
Reallt, try not to worry, like a PP said, your work pal was probably a bit pissed and used it as an opener to start chatting to you! I’d probably have said something back like “yeah I crushed them between my arse cheeks” but that’s because I always say stupid things (& I’d probably be lying in bed this morning overthinking with fierce hangxiety 🙈🙈). Have a lovely day op, try not to worry 😊

Your colleague sounds a bit odd to comment or care. But also I'm not sure it's the sort of thing I'd expect to see at a work do with adults . It leaves the cans untidy and messy , to me it's the kind of thing teens or others do when they can't resist fiddling or touching things or are a bit bored in my opinion, seems pointless. For me I wouldn't crush cans at a do, easy to stop if you want. But for other person to notice or comment was a bit odd too. Don't worry about it, it's not a massive thing.

Horrified? Really?

It’s just like twisting crisp packets up I suppose or tearing labels off bottlesThey will take less room up in the bin so that’s good. I find it more odd your colleague found it odd. Does he not get out much?

Why didn’t you say ‘me’, when she said ‘who’s crushing cans’? Then if she had any opinion she could have told you? How would we be able to gauge the situation? Did you not put the first can in bin before getting a new one anyway, weird you let rubbish pile up at your table setting

How did you crush the cans? Perhaps that’s the key information that’s missing.

I think it could be entertaining and a potential party piece if you learn to crush cans with say, your jaw... you could then move on to other areas of your body, armpits and between your thighs, etc. You could probably develop a whole act out of it and who knows you may end up on Britain's Got Talent!

In the book I am reading, which is set in Paris in the 1920s, the main characters have just travelled to a bordello to see a woman blow smoke rings from between her thighs...

Sounds like a throwaway something and nothing comment after a couple of drinks. I doubt the person concerned even remembers making it, and I doubt she was horrified about some crushed cans.