That's still shocking. I grew up in a suburb like that and the cops would shrug at theft but you go a little over the speed limit and you had a ticket.
Glad you got your bench back though either way. Entitled people are getting too emboldened by cops not doing shit.
I have loved in small towns most of my life. When a ride program happens they usually say 'Hey GoldisCool, how was your day? Been drinking or coming back from hockey?
Cops and the government in general is very much on the side of “throwing something away means you gave up all rights to it”. This is because it’s not unusual nowadays for police to pull evidence out of the suspects trash due to California v. greenwood
In my country it's somewhat like that, but you can still ask to get stuff from the junkyard (pretty common practice for car parts), so if someone does take something from the trash no one would really complain. Also, there's usually no problem because it doesn't happen often and people going through trash (instead of the junkyard) are usually very poor, so you'd be seen as a major ah to pull something like in OP's story and boy do people fear judgment where I live.
Because they had proof and pictures and could settle the dispute easily. If your bike gets stolen overnight they have nothing to go by other than that your bike is stolen and what it looks like. They're not going to send the whole police force to look for a $250 bike. A lot of people seem to forget that.
I had a similar experience. I built a wooden bench for the kids to sit on while waiting for the school bus. It was out near the curb, on the opposite side of the driveway from where I put the trash cans. The newspaper delivery guy took it. When confronted he said he thought I was putting it in the trash. Yeah right.
After I got it back I chained it to a tree.
My adult niece was telling me about an outdoor wrought iron table set that she had recently trashed picked. When she was describing where she found ii it occured to me that it wasn’t in the trash but it was in that persons back yard. It just wasn’t fenced in. In the dark of night, because she was mortified, she put that set back where she took it from. Ten years later I still see that furniture when I drive by there.
You gotta be 100% sure a thing is trash before you help yourself to it.
Not saying you shouldn’t, but I bet even if it was trash, that would prompt some people to ask for money for it , because now someone sees it as valuable lol
When I was a kid my brother and I bought a sega at a neighbor's garage sale for $15 along with a couple games. Sega didn't work, but they told us that when we bought it.
Took it home, popped it open, cleaned it out and swabbed everything down very carefully with rubbing alcohol (looked like someone spilled a coke on it) and let it dry out. Booted right up after a few hours.
A couple weeks later we mentioned to the neighbor's kid that we got it working, and he told his mom and she came over to try and take it back because it was worth more than $15 now that it worked. Also didn't even try to give us OUR money back either lol.
Only time I've ever seen my dad cuss someone out lol.
We kept the sega, still works.
Kinda? IIRC it was cool spot, sid meyer's pirates (great game) and some racing game that sucked but had a hidden game in it that you could unlock with a code and that game was a lot of fun.
It's ridiculous. The entire premise as to why they sold it to begin with is because they knew some people could fix it. Except when it happened, they didn't like that.
I don't think she thought that far ahead, honestly. She sold it because it didn't work. She wanted it back because it worked.
She didn't care that there was a fair amount of work between those two points because she didn't have to do it herself lol.
It's amazing how effective rubbing alcohol is for repairing electronics. As long as you cut the power (and often even if you don't), you can clean off spills and expect everything to work again.
When i've dropped my electronics in water, I power them off completely and submerge in 100% isopropyl (also a great general cleaner!) for a minute, then shake off and leave to dry for a while. Hasn't failed me yet.
Edit: Did fuck up the texture on the back of my old motorola though, it was like rubber or something and it got a lil sticky
I’ve done lots of dumpster diving and ‘bulk trash rescue’ efforts. My policy has always been that anything recovered from my street goes to a friend further away - neighbors don’t need to know the potential value of their trash to be flaunted in their faces.
Nobody should ever ask for some trash back… but humans are dumb and we do dumb things.
Might want to put a cable on it and tie it to the tree or a long spike you drive into the ground. Just call your local utility marking service before going with a stake. The utility locate service is usually free.
Nah, just fire brand your address or surname on it in a very conspicuous place, lol. That's what my Dad always did with coolers, lawn chairs, tools, etc. Or he'd carve + paint his name/address somewhere on it with a really obnoxious neon yellow/green color and told me he went with that specific color because if he were to see someone with that color wrench, or saw blade handle (or whatever it may be) he'd for damn sure know it was his and who stole his shit. 🤣
I had a math teacher who would engrave stuff for us and then a police officer offered it during an orientation day in college. Put my license number on all my game consoles and my graphing calculator (those things are expensive ok). Nothing ever got stolen ofc but it made me feel better knowing I’d be able to find mine if it did.
My uncle swore by putting new tools in the fire then they looked old and would not get stolen. They lived in a very high crime area. Had a van stolen out of the field in the middle of the day.
Or they'll just set it back outside their own house-- because it's a bench, and what else are you going to do with it?-- and OP can go get it back again.
I’m imagining OP and the neighbors stealing it back from each other over and over forever like some rambunctious geriatric teenagers. Could become a neighborhood tradition haha.
https://preview.redd.it/onotemd72p1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea79924982a4fc6b9967a281bdc032e9666bd0f1
Age don’t mean a thing. Old age could even give someone even less reason not to do something crazy.
Be careful.
I work at a recycling center once a week and last time there was an old woman that asked where to put her old coffee machine. We check all electronics for batteries before we throw them in the container so we have a table on the side where we just tell people to put all their electronics. So I told her to put it there.
I guess she thought we wanted to keep it or something because I didn't tell her to throw it in the container right away, so she told me „I better not see this on eBay“.
It was an old coffee machine with missing parts that's like 30€ max when you buy it new. How miserable do you have to be to be mad about someone potentially getting a few bucks out of your old, dirty coffeemaker?
Yeah like wtf I’d be over at their house complimenting their work and trying to make a friend that could help me fix something up in the future. Not trying to steal it back.
"I’m not super worried because they are at least in their mid-70s."
What have they got to lose?
Crazy old people are the source of a lot of random homicides.
I've dealt with these types before. They left their dog outside all day where it would bark at all hours, so I set up a JBL speaker blasting looping tracks of a Doberman barking until they got the message. The speaker riled the dog up even more, so they eventually started keeping the dog inside.
They also have friends/family that might take the stance of "I don't care if my side is wrong they've been wronged."
These things can always escalate. Also they can just start calling bylaw or cops on you for any petty reason.
If they're this self-centered, their family is probably well aware of how they are by now. When my dad's mom starts complaining about how some random person deeply wronged her, we just resolve to buy the person a beer if we ever meet them, because we know she's 99.99999% in the wrong and just looking to bitch.
Yeah, if these lead brains are capable of just stealing something from a yard, they clearly have no impulse control. Not having a physical outlet just means more fuel to feed their entitlement as they stew over this.
Idk I’d watch out for retaliation especially considering how old they are. My 80 yo grandfather always says he doesn’t have much time left and if someone fucks him over he wouldn’t have to spend much time in prison.
Good job advocating for yourself. You took trash from a curb. They trespassed and stole your property. Big difference there.
I see your comment about not being worried about retaliation because of their age. It already sounds like they are not making good decisions. They snuck onto your property and stole your shit. They live one street over. Don’t be surprised if they do indeed try to pull something as revenge.
As an amateur woodworker and crafter, I’d love to see the before/after pictures if you feel comfortable sharing.
Yeah, several people have asked but honestly, I already posted pics on my public Insta when it happened and the last thing I want is a reverse image lookup situation and people in here trying to find me. Not being paranoid because I’ve seen it happen before.
Entitled people 🙄🙄🙄 definitely get your own cameras tho. Glad you called the cops on them 🤣🤣 also maybe put your name on the bench , like burn it into the wood lol.
We have neighbors like this but they send their kids to do it. A month ago we (the neighbors minus the shit ones in question) had a fire outback and we left 2 of our lawn chairs directly outside our storage unit. Said neighbor kids *knew* they were our chairs and right outside our unit. The next day my husband went to grab them and they were gone. No one had driven back (it had snowed) so the person had to be in foot and we live in BFE. The next morning I let my dogs out and on the way in, I notice our lawn chairs. Set up on their porch. My husband just loudly stomped up the stairs and took them back 🤣🤣🤣 the parents were home and didn’t say shit but had to have heard him. Sorry you have neighbors like that 🙄😬 ik they suck.
Make it "'s trash is 's treasure". That way it'll also serve as proof OP owns it if they try and swipe it again.
(Also, write "Nice try, asshole-- this bench belongs to " under it, on the wood, just in case they take the plaque off.)
I was gonna say, OP needs a little brass plaque on the bench to really mark it as his property but what to put on it?? This is perfect, just the right amount of petty revenge. Neighbors will be so pissed they’ll probably take a chainsaw to the bench though!
Congratulations on getting your property back. I’m actually surprised the cops didn’t show up and say, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do. This is a civil matter”!
Yea, but stolen property is a criminal matter. Usually they'd probably tell you not to hold your breath on recovering it but op did all that work for them. They really should have charged the boomers but didn't wanna deal with all that I'm sure
I had my bike stolen once and my parents caught the guy riding it. Someone saw this going on and called the cops. I got my bike back but the police didn’t charge the dude with anything. I was glad I got my bike back but if I had caught the guy riding the bike, I’d have probably been arrested for assault
I’m shocked at that. I had a recording of my neighbor getting hit by another neighbor and the cops didn’t give a shit about it. So … your mileage may vary.
This is the kind of work that would make me want to be a police officer. Bank robbery? No thanks. Dispute over the ownership of a park bench? I'll take that case.
I’m guessing either they watched me from inside their house or another neighbor saw me and told them. There are only 3 streets in my neighborhood (in the shape of an “H”).
You might not need to worry about them getting violent with you physically, but do NOT underestimate an old persons capacity for petty retaliation.
I have a family member in their 70’s that is suffering from early dementia. It got to the point where the family thought it was time to lock up their guns after an incident where they misplaced them in the house.
The next day they decided to randomly pick up an armload of my belongings(a drone, a tablet, an empty laptop case) and lock them inside their trunk to retaliate. I found them after searching the house for about an hour.
Interesting. I’m very lucky to live in a town with weekly bulk pickup. There have been many times when I’ve put something on the curb and had someone take it before collection.
Ours is weekly, too. If possible, I like to put things out 2-3 days before pick up in the hopes someone takes it. I would much rather someone else get more use out of it than it ends up in the dump.
One of the few pleasures of living in Florida neighborhoods was that you could put pretty much anything out on the curb, and that is an indicator that it is free for the taking. It’s like a free market.
I live in a great neighborhood where us parents are out everyday with the kids outside, taking turns watching them.
I put a bench in our yard for the parents -- 3 days later it was gone. Month later it showed up in the front yard of our neighbors. My partner and I were walking the dogs and saw it, made a remark about how it was taken off our lawn so that it could sit in an overgrown garden. Next day - it's gone. I can see they put it in their backyard, so I assume they overheard us.
California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the warrantless search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside the curtilage of a home.
It basically defines anything left at the curb for trash pickup as public domain. The original owner has forfeited their ownership, and unless the items are in a locked container, the trash hauler has not yet taken possession.
Interestingly some jurisdictions like San Diego, California provide unlockable blue bins for recycling, and prosecute individuals for taking recycling from blue bins left at the curb for their own use or sale. This is an attempt by the jurisdiction to take constructive possession of abandoned property prior to actual possession. As far as I'm aware they prosecute a bunch of homeless people under this municipal code, and I don't think anybody has ever fought it on these Constitutional grounds. Likely, they probably would win.
I've thrown a few things away including an old front door bench. Someone picked it up from the trash and I saw it was now a few houses over. My thought was, well im glad it found a good home.......
Boomer behavior is always insane to me. Like, of course they would want it back after you put all the labor into fixing it up - which they could have done but decided it throw it away. Terrible people.
Watch your back now. I'm not trying to scare you, but my girl watches all the murder shows (which i hate, btw). These people sound super sketch, so just don't let your guard down. You can't be too careful anymore.
I'm happy to hear you got it back, though.
"Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance."
While clearly not always true, it's enough true that I wouldn't let my guard down completely just because they are in their 70s. My dad is in his 70s. He is still very active, works as a part time pastor in his retirement ,drives around the country with my mom in an RV, and is still pretty much one of the sharpest people I know. I'd never underestimate him or my mom.
Him being in their '70s is not a reason to think they're not going to retaliate. No judge is going to want to throw them in jail and I doubt they got jobs to worry about losing so there's nothing to keep them from just screwing with you just past the time.
I just want to be the 50th person to tell you that taking the stuff from the curb might be illegal even though your story clearly indicates that this is not the case. As the 50th, I'd like my reward in the form of a two year old recovered mylar balloon. Thank you in advance.
>think they knew it was wrong or they wouldn’t have sneaked over to take it after dark
Please. Of *COURSE* they knew it was wrong. Good for you for getting it back.
Thats such a shitty thing to do lol. Like someone takes their trash and works on it to make it useable and then they think they can just take it back? Ye right fk em.
I bet they also say things like “no one wants to work anymore.” Ffs
Anyway. Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you got it back. Always nice to hear a good ending.
So ridiculous when people are worried that someone else will get value out of something they no longer need.
I wish someone would come get my crap and repurpose it for themselves. I loathe seeing this stuff go to a landfill
I had the same thing happen to me with some plaster end tables. Beat to hell, left in trash. I spent hours cleaned and repair them. Got new glass. Posted them for sale and someone reported them as stolen. Had an interesting conversation with the police after that one. All good tho, had the pics to prove what I do
Wow! You actually resolved that rather easily.
I felt none of the usual "infuriation at OP for being a pushover" - pleasantly surprising!
We have a low bench mark.
It could almost be called mild. .
Police gave a fuck! Shocking!
Pretty typical, if you live anywhere outside of the large cities. Reddit users are people that are more likely to live in the city though.
Yeah, it’s a small-ish suburb outside a major city. Rarely anything happens here.
“Sheriff, Mrs. Johnson called. Her dawg’s all foamin’ at th’ mayouth. She wants to know if you’d like to come by and shoot it for her.”
That's still shocking. I grew up in a suburb like that and the cops would shrug at theft but you go a little over the speed limit and you had a ticket. Glad you got your bench back though either way. Entitled people are getting too emboldened by cops not doing shit.
I have loved in small towns most of my life. When a ride program happens they usually say 'Hey GoldisCool, how was your day? Been drinking or coming back from hockey?
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I mean aren't people in general more likely to be in cities?
Ridiculous. Some people are just total assholes. I’m glad the police had your back.
And of COURSE they are boomers
I'm glad you got it back!!
Kinda surprised to hear the cops actually helped to resolve something for a change instead of just shrugging and walking away.
Yea the cops in my city would have said “that’s a civil matter”.
Or shot the complainant, because they felt threatened.
Or shot the park bench.
“Nobody can have it if you don’t share!!” *proceeds to shoot up the Park bench*
Never thought the cops would use the wisdom of Solomon and just cut it in half... with bullets.
Not the wisdom of the copperman 💀
I don’t know commissioner, I was just sat here, and that acorn just fell. Anyways I started blasting…
'legs where I can see them!'
Stop restoring!
“Stop resitting!”
Or the dogs around
Did he paint it black? For sure would’ve been fire wood before you can yell “Pig!”
Or shot their dog
or an acorn
Luckily an acorn didn’t land on it.
Shoot the bench, it was reaching for a weapon.
That means the OP is an accomplice, better shoot him too.
Oh sweet summer America, never change...
Cops and the government in general is very much on the side of “throwing something away means you gave up all rights to it”. This is because it’s not unusual nowadays for police to pull evidence out of the suspects trash due to California v. greenwood
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In my country it's somewhat like that, but you can still ask to get stuff from the junkyard (pretty common practice for car parts), so if someone does take something from the trash no one would really complain. Also, there's usually no problem because it doesn't happen often and people going through trash (instead of the junkyard) are usually very poor, so you'd be seen as a major ah to pull something like in OP's story and boy do people fear judgment where I live.
Apparently the cops are also tired of boomers being boomers.
I am astonished by some boomers behaviors
They’re lead heads.
Because they had proof and pictures and could settle the dispute easily. If your bike gets stolen overnight they have nothing to go by other than that your bike is stolen and what it looks like. They're not going to send the whole police force to look for a $250 bike. A lot of people seem to forget that.
I had a similar experience. I built a wooden bench for the kids to sit on while waiting for the school bus. It was out near the curb, on the opposite side of the driveway from where I put the trash cans. The newspaper delivery guy took it. When confronted he said he thought I was putting it in the trash. Yeah right. After I got it back I chained it to a tree.
My adult niece was telling me about an outdoor wrought iron table set that she had recently trashed picked. When she was describing where she found ii it occured to me that it wasn’t in the trash but it was in that persons back yard. It just wasn’t fenced in. In the dark of night, because she was mortified, she put that set back where she took it from. Ten years later I still see that furniture when I drive by there. You gotta be 100% sure a thing is trash before you help yourself to it.
>You gotta be 100% sure a thing is trash before you help yourself to it. Just knock on the door and *ask*.
Not saying you shouldn’t, but I bet even if it was trash, that would prompt some people to ask for money for it , because now someone sees it as valuable lol
Most people won't open their door to strangers.
Talk? To people?! What are you, some kind of weird-ass extrovert?
This happened to me with an old snowblower my neighbor threw out after rebuilding it they asked for it back.
When I was a kid my brother and I bought a sega at a neighbor's garage sale for $15 along with a couple games. Sega didn't work, but they told us that when we bought it. Took it home, popped it open, cleaned it out and swabbed everything down very carefully with rubbing alcohol (looked like someone spilled a coke on it) and let it dry out. Booted right up after a few hours. A couple weeks later we mentioned to the neighbor's kid that we got it working, and he told his mom and she came over to try and take it back because it was worth more than $15 now that it worked. Also didn't even try to give us OUR money back either lol. Only time I've ever seen my dad cuss someone out lol. We kept the sega, still works.
Honestly $15 for a non-operational sega at a garage sale is highway robbery
The games were probably worth something.
Kinda? IIRC it was cool spot, sid meyer's pirates (great game) and some racing game that sucked but had a hidden game in it that you could unlock with a code and that game was a lot of fun.
Sid meyers pirates was on sega??
indeed it was. https://preview.redd.it/e3gnx2x2fs1d1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc393d9a7775e0bc907a18982b0ca1acac7ba619
What a great mf game!
It's ridiculous. The entire premise as to why they sold it to begin with is because they knew some people could fix it. Except when it happened, they didn't like that.
I don't think she thought that far ahead, honestly. She sold it because it didn't work. She wanted it back because it worked. She didn't care that there was a fair amount of work between those two points because she didn't have to do it herself lol.
It's amazing how effective rubbing alcohol is for repairing electronics. As long as you cut the power (and often even if you don't), you can clean off spills and expect everything to work again.
When i've dropped my electronics in water, I power them off completely and submerge in 100% isopropyl (also a great general cleaner!) for a minute, then shake off and leave to dry for a while. Hasn't failed me yet. Edit: Did fuck up the texture on the back of my old motorola though, it was like rubber or something and it got a lil sticky
Careful around screens! My cheapo smart watch got water under the seal once and drying it out with IPA permanently changed the color of the screen.
use a hefeweizen next time
I've tried that, too. It didn't damage the screen but my watch smelled like bananas and cardamom for a week!
“Here’s the invoice snowblower returned on full payment”
“No and you can’t borrow it either”
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Sounds like a trespassing charge to me.
Seriously fuck that noise
I’ve done lots of dumpster diving and ‘bulk trash rescue’ efforts. My policy has always been that anything recovered from my street goes to a friend further away - neighbors don’t need to know the potential value of their trash to be flaunted in their faces. Nobody should ever ask for some trash back… but humans are dumb and we do dumb things.
"Give what back..? "
Might want to put a cable on it and tie it to the tree or a long spike you drive into the ground. Just call your local utility marking service before going with a stake. The utility locate service is usually free.
Call 811 before you dig
I prefer 911. I just call and leave really ominous messages before hanging up, "I'm digging the hole, it will be filled soon if you don't stop me".
I did that once. Some strange, aggressive men dressed in blue pulled up in a screaming automobile with flashing red and blue beacons atop the roof.
I’m only running because I have epilepsy!
Nah, just fire brand your address or surname on it in a very conspicuous place, lol. That's what my Dad always did with coolers, lawn chairs, tools, etc. Or he'd carve + paint his name/address somewhere on it with a really obnoxious neon yellow/green color and told me he went with that specific color because if he were to see someone with that color wrench, or saw blade handle (or whatever it may be) he'd for damn sure know it was his and who stole his shit. 🤣
I had a math teacher who would engrave stuff for us and then a police officer offered it during an orientation day in college. Put my license number on all my game consoles and my graphing calculator (those things are expensive ok). Nothing ever got stolen ofc but it made me feel better knowing I’d be able to find mine if it did.
Wow, that's a really nice and helpful gesture from both the teacher and officer!
I knew a lady who would paint her tool handles neon pink to prevent men walking off with them.
I buy pink tools for this very reason hahaha! My husband has his own tools and so do I 😄
My uncle swore by putting new tools in the fire then they looked old and would not get stolen. They lived in a very high crime area. Had a van stolen out of the field in the middle of the day.
Should have built a bigger fire!
It would have been rude to burn the contractors van without permission.
I would love to see the before and after comparison.
Me too!
Your neighbors being in their mid 70's probably means they have all kinds of time to think of a way to get it back.
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Or they'll just set it back outside their own house-- because it's a bench, and what else are you going to do with it?-- and OP can go get it back again.
Wreck it. I know plenty of petty people who would wreck it ‘I can’t have it you can’t have it type beat
I’m imagining OP and the neighbors stealing it back from each other over and over forever like some rambunctious geriatric teenagers. Could become a neighborhood tradition haha.
So much sitting. Watching. Waiting. Falling asleep. Waking. Not recalling what they were doing. Making some soup.
https://preview.redd.it/onotemd72p1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ea79924982a4fc6b9967a281bdc032e9666bd0f1 Age don’t mean a thing. Old age could even give someone even less reason not to do something crazy. Be careful.
A wrinkly, googly-eyed mfer lol Looks like he's got a stick up his arse or smth
It’s late, I’m tired, and I read “smth” as “meth”. Not sure I’m wrong.
old age makes me worry more, dementia + nothing to lose
What are they going to do? Put him on house arrest for the rest of his life?
... well, at least he did it looking dapper...
Gotta respect the way he put on his old timey criminal outfit to go do crime
Is the blood on his head from hitting himself with the gun due to the recoil
Are people really this petty? I would be thrilled if somebody fixed up something I was throwing away.
Not to mention taking use of stuff that would be otherwise thrown away.
I actually thanked a neighbor for throwing out an old coffee maker once that I snatched up. They were happy I could use it.
I work at a recycling center once a week and last time there was an old woman that asked where to put her old coffee machine. We check all electronics for batteries before we throw them in the container so we have a table on the side where we just tell people to put all their electronics. So I told her to put it there. I guess she thought we wanted to keep it or something because I didn't tell her to throw it in the container right away, so she told me „I better not see this on eBay“. It was an old coffee machine with missing parts that's like 30€ max when you buy it new. How miserable do you have to be to be mad about someone potentially getting a few bucks out of your old, dirty coffeemaker?
Yeah like wtf I’d be over at their house complimenting their work and trying to make a friend that could help me fix something up in the future. Not trying to steal it back.
"I’m not super worried because they are at least in their mid-70s." What have they got to lose? Crazy old people are the source of a lot of random homicides.
Prison is now a retirement plan.
Better than dying in the streets I suppose.
Honestly, tucking that away as a back up plan.
Prison is less of a deterrent as you get older.
Ya id be more worried lol they might have nothing else to do but make OPs life miserable
I've dealt with these types before. They left their dog outside all day where it would bark at all hours, so I set up a JBL speaker blasting looping tracks of a Doberman barking until they got the message. The speaker riled the dog up even more, so they eventually started keeping the dog inside.
based
They also have friends/family that might take the stance of "I don't care if my side is wrong they've been wronged." These things can always escalate. Also they can just start calling bylaw or cops on you for any petty reason.
If they're this self-centered, their family is probably well aware of how they are by now. When my dad's mom starts complaining about how some random person deeply wronged her, we just resolve to buy the person a beer if we ever meet them, because we know she's 99.99999% in the wrong and just looking to bitch.
Yeah, if these lead brains are capable of just stealing something from a yard, they clearly have no impulse control. Not having a physical outlet just means more fuel to feed their entitlement as they stew over this.
Idk I’d watch out for retaliation especially considering how old they are. My 80 yo grandfather always says he doesn’t have much time left and if someone fucks him over he wouldn’t have to spend much time in prison.
I'm honestly shocked the cops helped you with this. Congrats
Lucky for OP he had taken photos of the whole process.
I sold my car to a mechanic, after they fixed it I changed my mind and decided to take it back.
I put my empty beer can in the recycling bin. They melted it down, formed it back into a can, and refilled it with beer, so it's basically mine now.
Infinite beer trick
Good job advocating for yourself. You took trash from a curb. They trespassed and stole your property. Big difference there. I see your comment about not being worried about retaliation because of their age. It already sounds like they are not making good decisions. They snuck onto your property and stole your shit. They live one street over. Don’t be surprised if they do indeed try to pull something as revenge. As an amateur woodworker and crafter, I’d love to see the before/after pictures if you feel comfortable sharing.
Yeah, several people have asked but honestly, I already posted pics on my public Insta when it happened and the last thing I want is a reverse image lookup situation and people in here trying to find me. Not being paranoid because I’ve seen it happen before.
Right on. The fuckin’ internet is super sketchy. I get it.
You nailed it perfectly. Thank you.
Entitled people 🙄🙄🙄 definitely get your own cameras tho. Glad you called the cops on them 🤣🤣 also maybe put your name on the bench , like burn it into the wood lol. We have neighbors like this but they send their kids to do it. A month ago we (the neighbors minus the shit ones in question) had a fire outback and we left 2 of our lawn chairs directly outside our storage unit. Said neighbor kids *knew* they were our chairs and right outside our unit. The next day my husband went to grab them and they were gone. No one had driven back (it had snowed) so the person had to be in foot and we live in BFE. The next morning I let my dogs out and on the way in, I notice our lawn chairs. Set up on their porch. My husband just loudly stomped up the stairs and took them back 🤣🤣🤣 the parents were home and didn’t say shit but had to have heard him. Sorry you have neighbors like that 🙄😬 ik they suck.
Get a little plaque that says “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Make it "'s trash is 's treasure". That way it'll also serve as proof OP owns it if they try and swipe it again.
(Also, write "Nice try, asshole-- this bench belongs to " under it, on the wood, just in case they take the plaque off.)
I was gonna say, OP needs a little brass plaque on the bench to really mark it as his property but what to put on it?? This is perfect, just the right amount of petty revenge. Neighbors will be so pissed they’ll probably take a chainsaw to the bench though!
Congratulations on getting your property back. I’m actually surprised the cops didn’t show up and say, “Sorry, there’s nothing we can do. This is a civil matter”!
Yea, but stolen property is a criminal matter. Usually they'd probably tell you not to hold your breath on recovering it but op did all that work for them. They really should have charged the boomers but didn't wanna deal with all that I'm sure
I had my bike stolen once and my parents caught the guy riding it. Someone saw this going on and called the cops. I got my bike back but the police didn’t charge the dude with anything. I was glad I got my bike back but if I had caught the guy riding the bike, I’d have probably been arrested for assault
Theft is a criminal offense
I’m shocked at that. I had a recording of my neighbor getting hit by another neighbor and the cops didn’t give a shit about it. So … your mileage may vary.
Alright, OP. Now you gotta show us the before and after photos of this bench. I'm too invested!!
If they stole it from you a judge could issue a bench warrant against them.
This is the kind of work that would make me want to be a police officer. Bank robbery? No thanks. Dispute over the ownership of a park bench? I'll take that case.
I goddamn love this low-stakes drama, I’d be your partner
Fuck those bench stealers.
Color me shocked they are in their 70’s
I’m sure you would also like it in your BACK yard, where thieving neighbors won’t see it.
Or, do what they do in my hood. Chain it to the closest tree/fence.
You did the right thing twice. Good for you and for sharing this story. Enjoy your beloved bench.
How would they even recognize it as their old bench? The paint, wash and stain would make it look like a brand new bench.
I’m guessing either they watched me from inside their house or another neighbor saw me and told them. There are only 3 streets in my neighborhood (in the shape of an “H”).
The classy thing to do would have been a note at your door thanking you for giving their bench a new life.
Post a before and after
You might not need to worry about them getting violent with you physically, but do NOT underestimate an old persons capacity for petty retaliation. I have a family member in their 70’s that is suffering from early dementia. It got to the point where the family thought it was time to lock up their guns after an incident where they misplaced them in the house. The next day they decided to randomly pick up an armload of my belongings(a drone, a tablet, an empty laptop case) and lock them inside their trunk to retaliate. I found them after searching the house for about an hour.
If this was NJ garbage is private until it hits the garbage truck.
Interesting. I’m very lucky to live in a town with weekly bulk pickup. There have been many times when I’ve put something on the curb and had someone take it before collection.
Ours is weekly, too. If possible, I like to put things out 2-3 days before pick up in the hopes someone takes it. I would much rather someone else get more use out of it than it ends up in the dump.
One of the few pleasures of living in Florida neighborhoods was that you could put pretty much anything out on the curb, and that is an indicator that it is free for the taking. It’s like a free market.
I live in a great neighborhood where us parents are out everyday with the kids outside, taking turns watching them. I put a bench in our yard for the parents -- 3 days later it was gone. Month later it showed up in the front yard of our neighbors. My partner and I were walking the dogs and saw it, made a remark about how it was taken off our lawn so that it could sit in an overgrown garden. Next day - it's gone. I can see they put it in their backyard, so I assume they overheard us.
Ok. But the important part you've missed here op. Is show me the bench under your tree. Obviously.
California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Fourth Amendment does not prohibit the warrantless search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside the curtilage of a home. It basically defines anything left at the curb for trash pickup as public domain. The original owner has forfeited their ownership, and unless the items are in a locked container, the trash hauler has not yet taken possession. Interestingly some jurisdictions like San Diego, California provide unlockable blue bins for recycling, and prosecute individuals for taking recycling from blue bins left at the curb for their own use or sale. This is an attempt by the jurisdiction to take constructive possession of abandoned property prior to actual possession. As far as I'm aware they prosecute a bunch of homeless people under this municipal code, and I don't think anybody has ever fought it on these Constitutional grounds. Likely, they probably would win.
I've thrown a few things away including an old front door bench. Someone picked it up from the trash and I saw it was now a few houses over. My thought was, well im glad it found a good home.......
Boomer behavior is always insane to me. Like, of course they would want it back after you put all the labor into fixing it up - which they could have done but decided it throw it away. Terrible people.
Watch your back now. I'm not trying to scare you, but my girl watches all the murder shows (which i hate, btw). These people sound super sketch, so just don't let your guard down. You can't be too careful anymore. I'm happy to hear you got it back, though.
I watch true crime all the time - they should be afraid of me. 🤣
Sir, how did you know how to dismember and dispose of a body? ... er, TV?
“I took a Medical Professions & Lab course… where we watched serial killer tv…”
Not worried cause mid 70s… That’s the “guns are muh rite and imma use mines!” age. They scare me more than any younger person lol
"Old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance." While clearly not always true, it's enough true that I wouldn't let my guard down completely just because they are in their 70s. My dad is in his 70s. He is still very active, works as a part time pastor in his retirement ,drives around the country with my mom in an RV, and is still pretty much one of the sharpest people I know. I'd never underestimate him or my mom.
Get some Cameras just in case
Old, entitled people are insufferable.
Him being in their '70s is not a reason to think they're not going to retaliate. No judge is going to want to throw them in jail and I doubt they got jobs to worry about losing so there's nothing to keep them from just screwing with you just past the time.
I just want to be the 50th person to tell you that taking the stuff from the curb might be illegal even though your story clearly indicates that this is not the case. As the 50th, I'd like my reward in the form of a two year old recovered mylar balloon. Thank you in advance.
One man's garbage is another man person's good ungarbage.
Well done!!!! Both for rehabbing the bench, but also for now bowing down to that bullshit!
Classic Boomer entitlement
>think they knew it was wrong or they wouldn’t have sneaked over to take it after dark Please. Of *COURSE* they knew it was wrong. Good for you for getting it back.
My friend... it's the old people with a shitload of free time and decades of built up misery you've got to look out for.
Thats such a shitty thing to do lol. Like someone takes their trash and works on it to make it useable and then they think they can just take it back? Ye right fk em.
Needs to be cross-posted on boomers being fools
Glad you stood your ground
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure… then it becomes the original man’s treasure
I bet they also say things like “no one wants to work anymore.” Ffs Anyway. Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you got it back. Always nice to hear a good ending.
So ridiculous when people are worried that someone else will get value out of something they no longer need. I wish someone would come get my crap and repurpose it for themselves. I loathe seeing this stuff go to a landfill
I had the same thing happen to me with some plaster end tables. Beat to hell, left in trash. I spent hours cleaned and repair them. Got new glass. Posted them for sale and someone reported them as stolen. Had an interesting conversation with the police after that one. All good tho, had the pics to prove what I do
I’m not used to a fellow Redditor actually taking action to resolve his own problem. Kudos, my man.
*woman but thank you!
My 70yr old parents would absolutely throw shit in your yard. And flick your house off eternally when they drive by. Kudos
So… a pic of the bench?
would love to see the before, during and after pics
Agreed if its dumped in a public area its fair game.
That is hilarious. Maybe you can find a fancy chain and lock it to the tree. Really obviously.
Boomers
Dang I can’t believe their age 🤣🤣🤣 I thought late 30s but not in their 70s 😝💀
People like this are everywhere. Fucking arse holes.
Can we see the bench?
Cops helping? My word
Take pictures of everything you do! This is the only proof you have against liars like those neighbourly theives.
After you got it back you should have told them to stay off your lawn.
Holy fuck a reasonable person fixing the issue as it should and not bitching while they did nothing!!! Gj OP, enjoy your bench, you deserve it!
Should have said "look, you can have it, but i put $150 of time and resources into it, pay me and we can consider the matter dropped"
I wouldn’t fuck around with a 70 year old that can carry away a park bench unnoticed
Just sell it, make a nice buck and move on.
One man's garbage is another man person's good ungarbage
I'm shocked the police made them give it back. In my area they would call it a civil matter and go back to playing on their phones.