to be sad that a colleague threw away my desk top bin

[amazonqueen]

I was off work ill for 2 days and a deputy (not mine)stood in for me.
When I went back to work this morning I found that she had tidied up my filing and sorted out a few things I had left since I wasnt expecting to be ill. I was a bit anyway but decided to be charitable and think the best of her. I do like her to speak to .

Then I found that my little desk top bin was gone. I was puzzled as I couldnt see where it could be. I asked her and she said
" Oh it looked just like rubbish so I threw it away"
I really felt like crying. Not over the bin-just the disrespectfulness of it really.

It is was just an old pot noodle pot made into a labelled bin-all jazzed up with my name on it. I did it a couple of years ago when they took away our under desk bins and Ive had it all that time.It was just for those annoying bits of paper and sweetiewrappers important memos that I would otherwise have to stack up until I could make a trip to the big bin.

Anyway -it was mine and she threw it away.
She was appalled that I was obviously annoyed(I couldnt hide it) and offered to bring me another one. But that isnt the point.

so AIBU?

[paisleyleaf]

clam,

[clam]

I would say that the worst thing about this is that you're going to have to eat another pot noodle in order to replace it!

[nickelbabe]

YANBU:
it was a mean and pretty stupid thing to do. she had no right to throw away your stuff, regardless of whether she thought it was rubbish.

i used to have a colleague who was obsessively tidy, but even she would put things in a pile that she thought was rubbish and then thrust it under my nose when i got back to tell me to sort it out.
it's just wrong to throw stuff away when it's not yours to throw.

[mazzystartled]

I am a militant clean-desker.

Of course it's fine to have gonks, dancing sunflowers, baby photos and personalised pot noodle bins at work, if they make your day happier, but they should be cleared away at the end of the day.

If someone shares or has to use someone else's desk it should be clean, tidy and no personal stuff on it.

In this case colleague probably shouldn't have chucked it but within her rights move stuff that was in the way if she had to work there (in effect it was "her" desk. And she was probably tidying up as a favour.

[bronze]

She shouldn't have touched your stuff and it could have been made by one of your kids or someone like that for all she knows. so YANBU but on the other hand dont get too upset because it wasn;t a gift and I'm sure you can make yourself another one unless the thought of eating another pot noodle is terrifying

[bigTillyMint]

Get one of these - she won't throw that away!

[MilkNoSugarPlease]

YANBU!

wether it was a (im sure) gorgeously lovely pot noodle bin or a rubber, you dont throw anything out thats not yours! its an unwritten rule!

BUT i have to ask...if the pot noodle bin replaced the under desk bin...WHERE DID SHE THROW IT?

[blueywhite]

Sorry to hear about your health problems.

I would be a upset too, in your position.

Now it's over and done with, you need to get into a positive frame of mind and get another bin.

I'm sure having seen your reation , this woman won't do the same thing again.

[PuppyMonkey]

YANBU I would have cried too. You don't touch anything on my desk, that's a given.

[MrsVik]

I'd be sad too! Where does she get off messing around with your stuff, no matter how insignificant it seemed?

YANBU!

[ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight]

YANBU
I desk share and we are super careful not to mess with each other's stuff.
Scottishmummy is misfiring as usual - where did she say she looks down on this woman for being junior?

[jasper]

YANBU
I would have been upset too.
I am very much one for home made bins.

Not her job to select which stuff of yours needs tossing.
She should have kept her crazy tidying mitts to herself

[scottishmummy]

no one puts pot noodle in da corner.yes demonstrate your managerial range by doing as BHLS suggests

weep as they cart you away for assaulting a colleague

still show her who da boss

[BigHairyLeggedSpider]

It was your property. She had no right even tidying your desk. Punch her in the tits.

[Elemental]

That sounds like the subject matter of a spam email.

[scottishmummy]

cup noodles bowl put your befriend picture on it -restore your classy management persona

[Fibilou]

Surely if it had your name on it all jazzed up and everything it was obvious it wasn't just a bit of old rubbish.

I would never throw anything off a colleagues desk unless it was absolutely rubbish like an apple core.

[shockers]

I was sure we could come up with something classier than a cup from the drinking fountain...however, on inspection of my cupboards, it would seem not

[Elemental]

Yeah, that's exactly what she was saying, well done.

[scottishmummy]

fgs your hierarchical view of colleagues will be your down fall and your inability to see your pimped pit noodle pot isnt obviously important to others. how very dare a serf show initiative

[TigerLightsitandscarpers]

Of course they shouldn't have touched your desk. You don't have a couple of days out and come back to find everything "tidied up". It doesn't matter that it was an old pot noodle pot, your desk should have been left as is and your colleague shouldn't have jumped in. I don't think you're BU at all. I don't like it when I've been off and someone's used my PC, I can see that my lefthanded mouse has walked round to the wrong side so I know someone's been there. In the great scheme of things it's so what, but it's just another of those little irritating things that grate.

[Amapoleon]

it is not about what was thrown away but the fact that the person had no right to do so.

[scottishmummy]

you bampot thinking a potnoddle pot is object d'art.haha she threw it out

[amazonqueen]

Casserole - you were the one who read the title and decided to contribute. I put it up for serious contemplation that's all.

Okay- I do have serious problems =I have breast cancer for one -crippling anxiety for another - but they werent what upset me today.

Time you realised that not everyone is one dimensional.

Actually -and without Casseroles 'help' I can see I was a tad precious about my poxy bin.

It was a pot noodle cup and -sentimental as I might have been- maybe others just saw it as a nasty bit of plastic. I will rise above it and get myself a higher class of bin - maybe a plastic cup from the drinking fountain...

Thanks to the rest of you for helping me come to a decision