# I took out my neighbor's trash... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894 "2010-12-12T16:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/41 "2010-12-13T20:25:10Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > …3) Why would someone sweep everything off a desk for visitors… He was having impromtu sex with the visitors. > [@Rex\_Goliath](#): > > seriously? Being alone with a child that’s not related to you is just begging for trouble. Especially if you have a penis. Even women are risking alot by doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/42 "2010-12-13T20:37:26Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > Obviously, the only way to make this right is by replacing his trash. While this won’t replace the wedding ring, adding a dead possum would be a thoughtful gesture. Oh, I think this guy deserves at least _two_ dead possums. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/43 "2010-12-13T21:27:57Z")
I’ll be the lone naysayer. As bullshitty as this guy’s story is, I can understand that some people just don’t like their stuff messed with, even if you’re doing them a favor. Also if my neighbor was going out of town and asked me to take his bins down, I would happily do so. But if I just saw them sitting in his driveway on trash day and didn’t have the OK from him to take them, I wouldn’t bother because a) it’s not my responsibility and b) I’d be afraid of running into a situation just like what the OP describes. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/44 "2010-12-13T21:32:28Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I’ll be the lone naysayer. As bullshitty as this guy’s story is, I can understand that some people just don’t like their stuff messed with, even if you’re doing them a favor. You’re not alone in that. I wouldn’t take it upon myself to do what the OP did. Maybe it’s partly because of the nature of the neighborhood I live in. The wedding ring thing is still pretty weird, though. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/45 "2010-12-13T21:37:29Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Was he wearing his wedding ring when he told you this story? This is exactly what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/46 "2010-12-13T22:19:37Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I’m trying to imagine the conversation that would ensue with this guy’s wife: > > “Where’s your wedding ring?” > > “It went out with the trash.” > > “WHAT!? You THREW AWAY YOUR WEDDING RING?!?” > > “No, no, you have it all wrong. I was just storing it in the garbage can on garbage pickup day.” > > “…” 😃 I can’t even get my wedding ring off! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/47 "2010-12-13T23:34:58Z")
I’ve often bought my neighbours bins in if they are at work and I was around. I have never taken them out unless asked. Neighbour does sound like a trick in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/48 "2010-12-13T23:54:22Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Panic set in. Where the hell was my plane ticket? I searched all over the place. It was gone. What was I going to do? I’d spent a lot on it and couldn’t afford to buy a last minute ticket for one of the many seats that are usually available on December 24th flights. > > After checking in unlikely places such as the bathtub and fridge, I decided to look in the unlikeliest place of all – my trash can. After digging though a lot of trash, I found it. The important difference is that it resided in the trash because you didn’t know you’d misplaced it. The OP’s lying neighbour claims he KNEW his ring was festering in a trash can, but that he’d had no plans to make any effort to retrieve it until the last minute. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/49 "2010-12-14T08:11:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Question for married folks: How much of your life do you spend with your wedding ring off? Most of the time. I only put on my wedding ring when I go out. And I don’t always wear it then, either. My husband doesn’t even HAVE a wedding ring. Not because he kept it in the trash, but because he never wanted one. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/50 "2010-12-14T13:44:59Z")
The SD sure has some smart and funny folks! I have not seen the neighbor, so there is no follow up, but I will be looking out for his wedding ring in the future as **Erdosain** suggested- and may or may not bring it up if and when I see it. Also, I mulled over \*\*Dewey Finn’s \*\* suggestion to help him find his stuff in the landfill because that’s what a Really Good Neighbor would do, right? And I am a really good neighbor! LOL! And I did take \*\*billfish678 \*\* and others suggestions seriously- that someone that would make up such a strange story over what most people would offer a thank you for to be a big red flag. I pick up their kid because I am picking up mine as well. Also, I’m female, so I think I’m mostly safe of that front. The neighbors on my side of the street have always helped each other with trash, by request and otherwise. Maybe crossing the street was my crime! I’m gonna ignore all you ‘possum people’- LOL. **RachelChristine** - you are just too funny! I wish I had some of \*\*Hypno-Toad’s \*\* dickishness (not really, I’m a girl… Or maybe…Nah…) All the while as I making those 5 very sincere apologies I was thinking “You are so full of it, you nut…” Another reason I didn’t believe him was the sweeping motion he made with his arm as he described sweeping the stuff off the desk. You can’t “sweep” a bunch of papers into a trash bag like that. The bag would crumple and the papers would spill onto the floor unless someone else was holding the bag open. And, who would leave all that valuable stuff for an hour much less a day or two or three. If this really happened, like **Guinastasia** said, “Stupidity is its own punishment.” My husband thinks the neighbor is either fighting with his wife (they don’t seen to get along all that well) and has to account for losing or throwing his ring away or else he is perversely punishing his son (who is 20) for not taking out the trash. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/51 "2010-12-14T14:46:30Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > The important difference is that it resided in the trash because you didn’t know you’d misplaced it. The OP’s lying neighbour claims he KNEW his ring was festering in a trash can, but that he’d had no plans to make any effort to retrieve it until the last minute. :dubious: Another difference is that my plane ticket closely resembled junk mail. Most respectable wedding rings don’t. Oh, and I typically don’t store valuables in a trash can. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/52 "2010-12-15T23:56:07Z")
Let us know when you get served with a small claim from your neighbor to replace his lost property. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/53 "2010-12-16T17:47:49Z")
I bet the neighbor is a hoarder. Ever been inside the house? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/54 "2010-12-16T18:22:35Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > I bet the neighbor is a hoarder. Ever been inside the house? No, I never have been inside. Today is Thursday (Trash day. But regular trash only, this week.) and I see his black can at the curb. I also see at least two full, black garbage bags up by the garage, near the recycle can. Maybe I should haul those bags out for him…LOL! Or steal them. Who knows what kind of fabulous, valuable stuff is in those bags! ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/55 "2010-12-16T18:34:01Z")
Oh, I put my ring in the trash can all the time. I wait until I see the garbage truck turns onto my street and _then_ I run out in my bathrobe, racing against the clock, clawing through cat litter and old food wrappers, to get my ring back before the truck pulls up to my house. Nothing beats that adrenaline rush. It’s like a drug! You should try it! ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/56 "2010-12-16T18:34:26Z")
Someone who just took out papers to look at them would be able to put them back neatly and quickly in case of guests. They also would put their wedding ring back on. Someone who has 4 years of IRS papers on his desk because he’s a slob would not do anything with them if someone came over. He also would not know for sure if his wedding ring was on the desk. If the story was true he would have separated the bag from the rest of the trash the moment he knew what happened. Since the bag was all desk papers it would be easy to tell which one it was. It would have been more believable if he just said he lost his wedding ring and was going to go through all the trash and hadn’t had time yet. Plus, everyone knows you use brown paper grocery bags for a “dump and stash” and then you put the bags in the closet or bedroom. As far as giving a ride home to the daughter; I wouldn’t unless someone else is with you. My husband got accused of being abusive towards a boy who we always gave rides to because his mom wouldn’t. We stopped giving rides to him that day and he dropped out of that activity. Sad, but you can’t always fight crazy. ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/57 "2010-12-16T18:45:13Z")
Wow, OP, no good deed goes unpunished, huh? Yeah, the guy’s lying (all this time, I though the Jehovah’s Witnesses frowned on that and other violations of the 10 rules?? 😕) Also, overflowing trash cans are a public nuisance and health hazard; an open invitation to scavenging critters (feral cats and dogs, racoons, possibly even BEARS, depending on where you live, 😉 etc) who scatter his shit all over the neighborhood and are drawn into the area and into others folks shit, and rats, flies, roaches, other vermin. Eh…next time, just don’t be kind enough to lift a finger. Let him know his kid can walk home or he can find another way to get them home from now on. You wouldn’t want to be a meddling neighbor or infringe on his privacy anymore. :dubious: (OR get accused of something or be liable for something related to your giving rides to said kid…good point) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894/58 "2010-12-16T19:00:31Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Oh, I put my ring in the trash can all the time. I wait until I see the garbage truck turns onto my street and _then_ I run out in my bathrobe, racing against the clock, clawing through cat litter and old food wrappers, to get my ring back before the truck pulls up to my house. > > Nothing beats that adrenaline rush. It’s like a drug! You should try it! Ha, this made me laugh. The best part of it is, I have one of those semi-automated dump trucks in my neighborhood. The driver doesn’t even get out, but these two arms come out and stick in either side of my garbage can, lift it, tip it into the truck, and then set it back down. Now I am imagining you, in said bathroom, desperately clinging to the bottom of the bin, or maybe one of those arms, trying to find your stupid wedding ring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-took-out-my-neighbors-trash/563894.md?page=2)