Am I crazy? (Check yes or no)

← How’s that for compromise? Do I detect a note of hostility in your hospitality? →

November 30th, 2011 · 97 comments

Despite what her neighbor would have you believe, Mim in Adelaide, Australia says she doesn’t actually just toss her trash into the street. In this case, she simply put out hard rubbish our for collection a few days earlier than suited the residents of 59 Windsor.

Mim says this note is just the latest installment in an ongoing litany of complaints, which “always come with the multi-coloured swirly script and hearts. They crack me up every time!”

related: Stay classy, Little Rock

FILED UNDER: Australia · excessive capitalization · garbage · heart · neighbors · there goes the neighborhood

97 responses so far ↓

#1 lala

Unless you’re going to be out of town, don’t put your trash out sooner than the day before pickup. It’s just asking for dogs or pests to get into it.

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:21 pm rating: 90

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- #1.1 maura
  
  Um. I bet Mim’s aware of pests, FFS – it’s Australia, home of ‘pests’ that can destroy your entire leg. Mayhap she’s a third-world sort who lacks hygiene sense or any sense at all, but I’d offer that our fine friends down unda have availed themselves to “pest” resistant containers. Unlike certain people.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 8:39 pm rating: 90
- #1.2 Kiran
  
  Third-world sort who lacks hygiene sense? Thanks for the racist comment. Team kick Maura in the face.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 9:12 pm rating: 90
- #1.3 David
  
  Kiran: Why are you assuming it was racist? You’re just extrapolating something that isn’t there. It’s not like she said “all third-world types lack hygiene”– that seems to be a judgment you made on your own. Maybe you’re revealing your own prejudices.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 11:39 pm rating: 90
- #1.4 Dr_Know
  
  Adelaide doesn’t actually have a pest problem. I’ve never seen any random dogs or whatever (we don’t have squirrels or racoons) running around the streets. So not much danger in putting your bin out a little early.
  
  But in any case, would someone seriously go ‘Oh no I don’t want to buy that house! Someone put their wheely bin out on the wrong day!’.
  
  On another note, this is very interesting handwriting. It’s kind of like it was written by a young girl (messy writing) or a guy impersonating a girl (messy handwriting but with multiple colours and overly ornate). I know I’m generalising but guys generally have worse handwriting. I’m obviously reading into this too much…
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 2:08 am rating: 90
- #1.5 Victor
  
  Seriously, David? The woman said “third-world sort”. Maybe she was aware that the whole third-world may be a tad too much people for her to generalize it that way (and she was probably certain some “third-world sort” would eventually read whatever shit she’d say), but, let’s be honest, she obviously implied “first-world sorts” are not capable of “lacking hygiene sense”. And, in the end, your utterly too-tolerant comment on this actually makes it show how intolerant you can be, actually.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 5:22 am rating: 90
- #1.6 Jill
  
  Yup, it’s illegal to do so where I live (which is not Australia) but there’s a reason for the rule.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:06 am rating: 90
- #1.7 David
  
  Victor: I don’t think she implied anything of the sort. I think that’s you looking for racism where there is none and creating conflict where none exists.
  
  Next up: Watch as someone mentions something like a “stupid Asian” and Victor and Kiran panic and reply “OH NOES, HE’S SAYING ALL ASIANS ARE STUPID!!!”
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 1:35 pm rating: 90
- #1.8 Lupita
  
  Not to put too fine a point on it, but ‘stupid asian’ is actually fucking racist, which kind of sorta maybe invalidates the point you were wrongfully trying to make in the first place.
  
  “Third world sort who lacks hygiene sense or ANY SENSE at all” is soooooooooooooo fucking racist.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:35 pm rating: 90
- #1.9 Palomon
  
  C’mon, the Third World types who have the sense to move to the other types of world (Old or New) have got some sort of sense.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 12:08 am rating: 90
- #1.10 Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff
  
  Whereas if your trashcans are a few yards further up the driveway, nothing can get at it right?
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 3:08 pm rating: 90
- #1.11 Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff
  
  Do they have internets in the third-world?
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 3:10 pm rating: 90
- #1.12 Maria
  
  no, I plugged my computer on a wild pig’s nose that was passing by and worked on my avatar telepathic waves to connect to cyberspace. Thank you people for making me, an upper middle class woman with a master’s degree who lives in a 3rd world country, like a fucking monkey.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 4:32 pm rating: 90
- #1.13 Rattus
  
  So there may not be internets in the third world, but there appears to be a surfeit of uptight.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 5:01 pm rating: 90
- #1.14 RubeMcCube
  
  Since the third world is racially diverse and pretty much all the ethnic groups which exist in the third world are present in Western Europe and North America, it couldn’t really be said to be stigmatizing a particular racial group, so no – it’s not racist. On the other hand, the implication that everyone in the third world is ignorant and living in squalor is both bigoted and offensive.
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 2:10 am rating: 90
- #1.15 whimsymim
  
  I’m not sure if the rampaging local ‘pests’ would have been interested in my old sofa…
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 10:21 pm rating: 90
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#2 Marianna

Team note writer. Putting out the trash the night before pickup is fine. “A few days earlier”, not so much. By the time trash day comes, every squirrel, dog, and crow in the neighborhood will have strewn garbage all over the street, plus sacks of trash sitting by the gutter for days is just tacky.

Plus it looks like the note writer has one of those four-color pens, making her automatically the coolest girl in the whole fourth grade. Shame about her potty mouth, though.

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:29 pm rating: 90

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- #2.1 jadefirefly
  
  Not that I disagree with you, but where the hell do you live that you put sacks of trash loose on the curb? O_o
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 9:24 pm rating: 90
- #2.2 Danielle
  
  There are no Squirrels in Australia. I am from the same city as Mim and we definitely are not allowed to put our rubbish in sacks by the curb. The kangaroos jumping down the street open them up and makes a mess everywhere. The recyclying bins are about shoulder height and the rubbish bins are a bit smaller and they are really sturdy. No animal in suburban Adelaide would be able to knock one over. If I could post a picture of them up here I would. They are called ‘wheelie bins’ if anyone happens to want to be a nerd and google image search the offending rubbish bin for a laugh. On a separate not what is with the pretty coloured pens??? It looks like one of those clicky multicoloured pens I had in primary school that supposedly smelled like fruit.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 9:51 pm rating: 90
- #2.3 kermit
  
  You can put out your wheelie bin and/or trash days ahead of time. Just don’t be surprised when the city mails you a hefty fine.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 10:47 pm rating: 90
- #2.4 M L
  
  Jadefirefly: In my city in Ontario, Canada, plastic garbage bags on the curb are pretty common. However, if you put it out the night before you’re playing russian roulette… raccoons are the biggest offender, but I think they’re pretty territorial, and they (usually) only cause so much destruction in one night, so you’re basically in competition with your entire block for who has the most delicious smelling garbage
  
  Although we have a pretty decent green-bin system here, so there’s not a lot of yummy organic matter in any given garbage bag.
  
  (Well, you asked!)
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:14 am rating: 90
- #2.5 AuntyBron
  
  If he has something particularly…tasty-smelling…in the trash, my dad puts in a splash of bleach to ward off the ‘coons, etc.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 12:18 pm rating: 90
- #2.6 Marianna
  
  @jadefirefly: Kansas City, and ten minutes after you’ve set the sacks out, they’ve turned into a squirrel/crow/dog buffet.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 3:33 pm rating: 90
- #2.7 park rose
  
  In both NZ and Japan rubbish is put out in sacks, plastic bags by the kerb/curb (or in Chch it was in 2003). In Japan it can be picked up 2 or 3 times a week, so it isn’t as big a problem, but the crows can get into the garbage and strew it around. They’re (the local government, not the crows) pretty strict about the times it should be placed. Wheelie bins are less likely to be a problem, and though more attractive than bags of garbage, still not the most attractive thing on the street.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 6:01 pm rating: 90
- #2.8 FeRD
  
  @rose: I wager you’d find the crows to be quite strict about the times trash should be placed at the curb, if you wer to ask them. It’s just that nobody ever does! Poooooor crows.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:34 pm rating: 90
- #2.9 Dan
  
  Yeah, mate, we don’t have the vermin that you do. Your rodents are not universal.
  
  And our stuff is out inside one of these – http://jameswaites.ilatech.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wheelie-bin.jpg – so unless there’s a significant feral dog population (which there generally isn’t anywhere in the inner suburbs) you’re safe to leave it out a few days early.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 7:41 am rating: 90
- #2.10 The Elf
  
  That is why I have a critter proof trash can.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 12:13 pm rating: 90
- #2.11 Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff
  
  “every squirrel, dog, and crow in the neighborhood will have strewn garbage all over the street”
  
  If that had happened, I suspect that the note-writer at number 59 would have mentioned it in their note. Ergo, your blanket assertion is demonstrated to be false.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 3:11 pm rating: 90
- #2.12 whimsymim
  
  Hey its Mim from Adelaide here…this note was written by a man in his fifties…would you believe. Oh and it wasn’t garbage it was ‘hard rubbish’…namely two sofas and an old bed base…and we don’t have squirrels…its Australia.
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 10:15 pm rating: 90
- #2.13 Nikki
  
  Leaving two sofas and a bed base out on the street for days would look far more awful than putting out garbage bins early. I’m Team Notewriter now.
  
  Dec 4, 2011 at 12:38 pm rating: 90
- #2.14 Sonya
  
  First world problems, end of story.
  
  Dec 4, 2011 at 9:59 pm rating: 90
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#3 matt

I used to live near to where this note comes from. It’s an almost perfect example of bogan/redneck housing estates described in the TV series ‘Housos’. I’m not surprised the neighbors are trying to sell. The whole place sticks of shit from the nearby septic treatment plant.
It drives everyone crazy on the hot summer days, including the note-writer in this case. Who the fuck over the age of 10 writes with flowery script anyway?

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:39 pm rating: 90

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- #3.1 matt
  
  I could easily envisage the note-writer getting stabbed and getting their rubbish bin and brush fence set on fire. That seems to be the traditional payback action to take over there for notes such as these. You don’t mess with people you don’t know.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 8:51 pm rating: 90
- #3.2 Danielle
  
  Where does it say the suburb she lives in? I assume by the comment you made about the sewerage works it must be near Bolivar but I can’t see any reference to it anywhere. And yes, if I lived out there I would be careful about writing such notes to strangers. The area you say she lives in, plus the swirly hand writing, coloured pens, love hearts and swearing gives me an image of a bogan called “Shazza” who drives a purple Barina with Frangipani stickers and kids with their name spelling ‘unique’ like Taylah, Micayhla, Breeanah and Bailee.
  
  Nov 30, 2011 at 10:01 pm rating: 90
- #3.3 Dr_Know
  
  Agreed Danielle. Matt, why are they assuming these people live in the far north of Adelaide? There is a Windsor st in Fullarton and it sure doesn’t smell of sewage there!
  
  Oh wait I just saw Windsor ave…but there are 9 of those! Some in nice areas.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 2:13 am rating: 90
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#4 Vikki

Mim, my fellow Australian.

Time to make a discreet call to ‘Today Tonight’ or ‘A Current Affair.’

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:39 pm rating: 90

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- #4.1 Anticipointment
  
  I want to like this comment a million times.
  Imagine what ole Trace would have to say about this!
  
  I also love that everyone’s having a major whinge about leaving the rubbish on the street…. seriously? Its inside a bin, you can’t even see or smell it (usually)! I have never in my entire life seen an animal get in a wheelie bin and pull the rubbish out, it would need to be at least 5 foot tall with opposable thumbs.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 12:52 am rating: 90
- #4.2 Nunavut Guy
  
  Wheelie bin………Tee Hee.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 6:52 am rating: 90
- #4.3 lonestarslp
  
  Yeah, we use these in Texas. Even my chihuahua can’t knock it over and he can knock over our four foot metal trash can if it has a plastic liner in it. Of course our Nazi suburban city has a law about leaving them on the curb (as opposed to leaving them next to your garage door?) so our passive aggressive neighbors just call the city and they leave a nasty note.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 11:37 am rating: 90
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#5 Donna

I love that the people next door can’t complain on their own behalf.

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:41 pm rating: 90

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#6 shesajem

I’d leave the trash out all week if I got that note. Ha!

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:42 pm rating: 90

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#7 Heather

I’m on Team Notewriter, but can’t help but wonder how a 13 year old girl became a homeowner.

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:52 pm rating: 90

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- #7.1 whimsymim
  
  A man in his fifties wrote it…seriously!
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 10:24 pm rating: 90
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#8 Dusa

Meh, your property, do what you want. I’d purposely put bags of dried leaves on the street just to piss her off. (so no dogs would get in there since there wouldn’t be any ‘good smells’.)

Nov 30, 2011 at 8:56 pm rating: 90

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- #8.1 whimsymim
  
  Him! See above comment…
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 10:24 pm rating: 90
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#9 Alvis

I can’t speak for Adelaide, but in many locations, it’s illegal to leave garbage out for collection more than 24 hours in advance.

Nov 30, 2011 at 9:01 pm rating: 90

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- #9.1 Ponytail
  
  Yup, I was wondering why the neighbour bothered – leave her to get fined by the local council.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 10:27 am rating: 90
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#10 Sean Jungian

Now THAT is how you write a passive-aggressive note!

Nov 30, 2011 at 9:14 pm rating: 90

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- #10.1 meri
  
  Truly, Sean, you are correct. This note-writer could teach the class on PA note-writing!
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 12:03 am rating: 90
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#11 quat

I thought she wrote “by heaving Your fucking Rubbish in the Avenue”, which I did think was pretty gross. Then I realized it was “Leaving”.

Nov 30, 2011 at 9:39 pm rating: 90

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#12 JME

I think that’s written in the Tengwar script, but I can’t tell if it’s in Sindarin or Quenya.

Nov 30, 2011 at 9:47 pm rating: 90

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- #12.1 Kelli
  
  I’ve never seen handwriting with such detail and thought put into it and still ends up looking hideous.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 2:24 pm rating: 90
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#13 Narny

I’m a fellow Australian and I’m tipping this is to do with council collection. As in where twice a year you can put bulk waste on the curb for collection (old furniture, boxes of rubbish and other household gear).

I got scowls from my neighbours when I put my gear out a few days early too.

Nov 30, 2011 at 10:04 pm rating: 90

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- #13.1 infant tyrone
  
  Link below is to Adelaide’s quarterly “Hard Rubbish” collection.
  One area’s schedule was for 7-11 November, so if your guess is right,
  Mim had her furniture, dead appliance(s), and other fucking rubbish
  out by the curb (kerb?) at least a week ahead of the pickup date.
  
  Maybe it isn’t much of a health hazard, but on the other hand it
  sure isn’t any help to a neighbor who is trying to unload a house.
  
  http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/adccwr/publications/brochures_flyers/5874989%20hard%20refuse%20calendar%20web.pdf
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 12:00 am rating: 90
- #13.2 Alex
  
  Adelaide is made up of lots of councils. Some of those councils have hard refuse collection a lot more frequently than Adelaide City Council. It’s also the accepted “norm” that you put your refuse out a few days ahead so that scabs can drive around and take stuff that they want.
  
  My guess… they’re just having a sook about a wheelie bin going out early. The only problem with that is if high winds are forecast it may get tipped over and get strewn all over the street. Otherwise, no biggie.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 5:29 am rating: 90
- #13.3 park rose
  
  A few days early in some of the places I have lived in W.A. (which isn’t S.A.) could be up to 3 months early, or let’s try year round. Old sofas and bicycles, beat-up mattresses and random bits of crappery left along the roadside. Pretty much an eyesore.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 6:05 pm rating: 90
- #13.4 Angeline
  
  Crappery! Bless you for adding a new word to my day. I’m going to use that as much as possible.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 3:20 am rating: 90
- #13.5 Danielle
  
  Like the above person mentioned the city of Adelaide isn’t actually that big at all. There are very few residents in the actual city itself and most people live in the surrounding suburbs with their own council area. It would be pretty stupid of the people to try to sell their home just before a hard rubbish collection. Whenever they have it in my area (Mitcham council) the supposed week they are going to collect it could be anywhere up to a few weeks later and people always seem to leave things they are not allowed to (like tvs) that stay on the nature strip for months after. And yes it is pretty socially accepted (though not allowed) to put your rubbish out early to give the scavengers more time to go through the hard rubbish. And annoying that they mess up the piles and they end up everywhere and not at all suitable to sell a home.
  
  Dec 12, 2011 at 9:48 pm rating: 90
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#14 Dalamara

I bet that fucking rubbish is fucking delicious.

Nov 30, 2011 at 10:10 pm rating: 90

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#15 Jennifer

The hearts! My God, the hearts!

Nov 30, 2011 at 10:19 pm rating: 90

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#16 Grant

Is that font available in TrueType?

Dec 1, 2011 at 3:44 am rating: 90

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- #16.1 FeRD
  
  Sorry, only as a .tft file.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:41 pm rating: 90
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#17 Nunavut Guy

Cry havoc and release the chili and broccoli eating dogs!

Dec 1, 2011 at 6:49 am rating: 90

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#18 Olde Skewl

That’s the prettiest cuss out I think I’ve ever seen. Usually, people try to write a cuss out in an ugly manner, presumably to drive their point home but this? This took some time!

Dec 1, 2011 at 7:14 am rating: 90

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- #18.1 Andrea
  
  I love how she dots her i’s with hearts. Its so condescending.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 12:46 pm rating: 90
- #18.2 whimsymim
  
  This note was written by a man in his fifties…don’t you just love it!
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 10:20 pm rating: 90
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#19 Ruth

So funny to see people (I’m assuming americans) who apparently leave their rubbish out in sacks on the street chastising others for gross bin habits! If you have pests that rip through bin bags, how about, I don’t know, depositing the rubbish in a container that the pests can’t open? Too crazy?

Even if the notewriter had a point (and they don’t), you have to fail them on the ridiculous penmanship alone, don’t you?

Dec 1, 2011 at 8:55 am rating: 90

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- #19.1 Rattus
  
  I’m a Canadian, we have wheelie bins, and I still get annoyed by people putting them out early and not taking them back in once the collection has taken place. Why? Because I don’t want to have to navigate past people’s filthy bins as I make my way down the sidewalk. And I really don’t want to see people in wheelchairs, using a cane or pushing a shopping cart have to do the same. Plus, it makes the neighbourhood look just that touch extra crappy.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 10:13 am rating: 90
- #19.2 Crystal
  
  I am an American and on after doing a google search on “wheelie bin” I can safely say it is the exact same thing we use to deposit our trash in. We just call them trash cans. No trash bags left on the street here!
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 10:54 am rating: 90
- #19.3 Will
  
  I can put my trash out in a wheelie bin, I can put it out in my own cans, I can put it out in bags. In my city, it is up to us to decide how we put out the trash, and which company use. I call it Freedom.
  
  But, seriously, what’s more interesting is that so many people seem to think that they way they do things in their little corner of the world is not just the only possible way but also obviously the best way in the world. Broaden your horizons, for crying out loud.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 12:00 pm rating: 90
- #19.4 Ruth
  
  Rattus, that’s definitely a problem. In my mind, all Australian (and US) streets are about 50 miles wide (even in the city), so I didn’t think about that! I agree that it looks bad, but it doesn’t look quite as bad as, uh, naked bin bags.
  
  Crystal, I’m glad to hear that! I was having visions of Naples.
  
  Will, I was worried you were serious about Trash Bag Freedom for a moment. But I don’t want to widen my horizons to include rubbish strewn across streets, thank you! I’m not saying my country is the best in the world, or even that we have the best waste disposal system, but it’s a lot better than torn bags leaking everywhere!
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 12:59 pm rating: 90
- #19.5 Nunavut Guy
  
  I souped mine up………I’ve got a hoe wheelie bin.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 1:19 pm rating: 90
- #19.6 park rose
  
  Wheelie bins in my little corner of Seattle! Yeah, I’ve been around.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 6:07 pm rating: 90
- #19.7 Cat
  
  In Seattle, not only are there wheelie bins for garbage, but also one for recycling and one for food scraps/ lawn clippings/ leaves/ anything else compostable, and they’re provided by the city… but they’re kept off the sidewalk for the most part. You find all sorts of furniture and things on the curbs year round, but they’re in the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 6:55 pm rating: 90
- #19.8 Nunavut Guy
  
  Damn.I meant HOT WHEELIE BIN.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 7:57 pm rating: 90
- #19.9 FeRD
  
  Paging Dr. Freud, Dr. Freud. Paging Dr. Freud to Comment #19.5. Dr. Freud, please report to Comment #19.5.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:45 pm rating: 90
- #19.10 park rose
  
  Hmm, Cat, I thought ours were provided by a private contracter, but we’re in the ‘burbs, so it might be different, and the wheelie bin for compost and so on was an opt in, opt out kind of thing.
  
  Another useless little bit of culture specific information, the grassy strip between the footpath and the street in W.A. (Aust.) as opposed to Wa., is called a “nature strip”. That’s specific to the Australian west coast, apparently. My eastern states friends found the term kind of strange (I’m not sure if they had a specific name. Probably “the verge”).
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 10:12 pm rating: 90
- #19.11 Petrichor
  
  We have nature strips in NSW. It’s not just peculiar to WA. Maybe you just have peculiar friends?
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 2:05 am rating: 90
- #19.12 park rose
  
  They were from Melbourne. You know how it goes
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 2:33 am rating: 90
- #19.13 Rattus
  
  They’re called Devil’s Strips in Akron. I learned that from an episode of Criminal Minds. If you can’t learn from television, you aren’t trying hard enough.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 9:28 am rating: 90
- #19.14 Neil
  
  The term ‘nature strip’ is official government language in all Australian states. Some locals might call them something else, sure, but if you are writing to the government you should call them ‘nature strips’.
  
  As a foreigner living in Sydney for 15 years, it took me a while to get used to the way people everywhere here put large objects out on the nature strip for other people to take if they want. It happens in the shitty areas and in the most gentrified suburbs as well. I live in Paddington which is a *very* upmarket inner-city suburb and you will find beds, couches, shelving, tlevisions, computers, chairs, and virtually everything else you could imagine out on the nature strip all the time. If there is a ‘solid waste’ collection approaching then it gets a lot worse, but lots of people don’t even care about that, they just put anything out on the street.
  
  Now, I can understand people getting sick of this, but if that’s the case then you should probably move countries, because in Australia it is *definitely* normal. Some local councils have declared it illegal, and you sometimes see big flourescent stickers attached to items saying things like ‘dumping is illegal, if you know who put this here, call 999-9999 to report them’. But it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference, except you make sure to remove any identifying marks from stuff you put out.
  
  As much of an eyesore as it is, I have to admit that the Australian junk collectors are pretty efficient, and anything with any kind of value at all will dissappear within 48 hours in 90% of cases. Just a week ago a neighbor put 4 giant old-fashioned tube TVs out on their nature strip, complete with remote controls and even manuals. They were *all* gone the next morning.
  
  So… this PA note-writer is moaning about something that is *very* common in this country. They have probably been writing notes about it for 30 years, and they are still baffled by the total lack of effect. From a fifty-something year-old man those hearts are hilarious, particularly the one in ‘fucking’. Just brilliant.
  
  Dec 4, 2011 at 5:29 pm rating: 90
- #19.15 Danielle
  
  I said a similar thing above before I saw what you wrote Neil. And in SA we call it a nature strip too. I said before if it really refers to hard rubbish and not normal rubbish it was absurd that the neighbours put their house on the market before a hard rubbish collection bc sometimes it takes weeks for them to get all the rubbish…the stuff that the scavengers didn’t get to.
  
  Dec 12, 2011 at 9:57 pm rating: 90
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#20 Sue

There is a 59 Windsor Avenue that was for sale in Springvale, Victoria, but it’s about 9 hours away from Adelaide. It was sold July 26 this year. I’m just trying to see what kind of neighborhood we’re talking about here by doing some internet stalking… and where I’m from we call them herbie curbies

Dec 1, 2011 at 10:23 am rating: 90

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- #20.1 Dr_Know
  
  Herbie curbie lawllllllllllllll
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 6:56 pm rating: 90
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#21 it's naptime

I read it as, “the people next door are selling their horse please don’t spoil it.”
I was imagining the horse getting into the trash and making a huge mess.

Dec 1, 2011 at 12:34 pm rating: 90

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#22 Evie

All y’all trash Nazis need to come spend some time in Tennessee for a while. I live in a fairly affluent neighborhood, and we still have a neighbor who has an old Mustang that has been slowly decaying on his front lawn for like a year. It’s definitely a sad way for such a rad car to go, but nobody gives a hoot otherwise. His yard, his rules, brah.

Dec 1, 2011 at 1:16 pm rating: 90

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- #22.1 Laura
  
  I’ve got one better, there’s a fellow who was going to sell his old Camaro to my husband about fifteen years ago, but changed his mind.
  
  It’s still sitting in his yard. With a tarp on it. And no wheels.
  
  Dec 1, 2011 at 8:32 pm rating: 90
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#23 Kaylia Payne

Hey guys, I’m an Australian who lived for two years in America.

Putting your trash out early in America? Not the best idea because pests will definitely get into it.

Putting it out early in Australia? Totally fine.

I think her neighbour sounds like a complete tool.

Dec 1, 2011 at 4:36 pm rating: 90

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- #23.1 whimsymim
  
  Oh he is…he really is
  
  Dec 3, 2011 at 10:18 pm rating: 90
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#24 Laura

I live in rural Pennsylvania, and I agree, it’s not a good idea to leave your trash out any time before the trash pickup here. We always rush ours out because there is a conniving neighborhood dog who simply loves our diapers. Fun.

That being said, our garbage pickup actually requires us to leave the bags out on the lawn. It’s weird, and stupid, but it’s how they do things, and we don’t complain because our landlord lets us throw our bags in with his every week for free. We just learned better after the dog incident.

Dec 1, 2011 at 8:30 pm rating: 90

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#25 latin-aggressive

You all “first world” complainers, so cute to watch, you chatting about rubbish and how terrible is to leave a bin outside before time of picking up. I wonder how many of you had been in a developing country… I only wonder…

Dec 2, 2011 at 10:00 am rating: 90

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- #25.1 park rose
  
  Do they have the internet in developing countries now, l-a? My, how times have changed. Did you have to send your post from a battery fired up from a few seconds of solar power somehow captured in a recycled plastic bottle, twisted into the roof to enable the light? I admire your tenacity and perseverance in bringing it on home and making it real for we (us?) of the chattering classes. Really, I thank you.
  
  I hope you don’t have to wait another 24 hours or so to check responses to your pithy words of conscience. I hope you’ve got some more energy in that battery. I know how tough things can be. I’m on tenterhooks imagining the pain you must sometimes be in with the intermittent access you have to such an influential and heavy-hitting social justice site as this one. I mean, my heart is in my mouth. It is through the social media that change comes about, after all, and I can’t bear to think of the censorship and cruelty, the sheer hardship so rampant in developing countries, that you must suffer on a daily basis just to send your thoughts to Passive Aggressive Notes. Believe me, those who want change salute you, and wish we all could be as brave.
  
  But all that’s beside your very pointed words. Oh, the difference they’ll make. I’m wiping a tear from my eye now just imagining the pin-pricks of unease and reflection you’ve inflicted upon the bumbling, gormless and unaware of us. P-A is dead. Long live P-A, I mean l-a . . . All hail. All stand suitably chastised and politically-corrected.
  
  Dec 2, 2011 at 11:18 am rating: 90
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#26 Martin

Dullest. Thread. Ever.

Even the racism flame war seems forced.

Dec 2, 2011 at 8:41 pm rating: 90

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#27 Rhoddy

Whatever the reality of putting bins out in various parts of the world, and whatever florid, crazy writing implies… at least they had the balls to sign it and leave their address. Leaving a signature and a way to get in contact totally changes the timbre of notewriting – even this rather bizarre bit of penmanship might appear tongue-in-cheek instead of total arsehole.

Dec 3, 2011 at 10:23 am rating: 90

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#28 leelee

NO FRIGGIN WAY!!
If this is the same Windsor Ave I am thinking of, I also had a bin-related passive aggressive note attached to my car there in bright coloured texta about a year ago!! I wonder if it was the same guy?!
Unfortunately, it happened before I knew this site existed so I threw the note away but it went a little something like this:

“Thanks for parking in front of my bin you fucking idiot. It didn’t get collected and now I am stuck with this for another week and can’t add any more. DONT PARK IN FRONT OF BINS, IDIOT. Thanks”

I stuck a reply to a nearby tree suggesting that they put the bin on the edge of the driveway, not the middle of their lawn and that it was the responsibility of the garbage men to get out of their truck and manually collect it, not my responsibility to pass on a perfectly situated parking spot just because some idiot doesn’t know how to strategically place a bin on the curb.
Pretty cool to see this, wish I had taken photos of the notes! haha

Dec 4, 2011 at 5:37 am rating: 90

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#29 Pers

I’d be ticked too if my idiot neighbour would put out their garbage DAYS in advance. No one wants to see trash rotting on the curb for days. I’m on the note-writers’ team 100%! Cheers!

Dec 4, 2011 at 5:28 pm rating: 90

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#30 Grey

What Mim was referring to is called ‘kerbside collection’ here in Australia and it’s done twice a year in most areas. You put out items of furniture and old appliances on the street (items that can’t normally be put in the rubbish) and the council comes by and picks them up. In our area, you HAVE to put your kerbside items out at least 48 hours in advance so the council knows which streets to pick up from. And it’s perfectly normal, and even encouraged, for items to be put out earlier so other people can take them if they want. It’s a ritual for some in Australia to drive around in the days before collection night and look for things.

When I was a student, we furnished an entire house from kerbside collection for free. The items are often of good quality but just unwanted, or need fixing but belonged to someone who didn’t have the time or skills to fix them. And it’s normal for people to leave unwanted stuff out on the kerb when they’re moving too, which I bet this guy will do at some point when he moves.

This dude’s note was totally ridiculous under the circumstances.

Dec 10, 2011 at 3:54 pm rating: 90

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