Comments on: Am I crazy? (Check yes or no)

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:57:58 +0000

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.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 03:48:45 +0000

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.

By: Grey

Grey — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:54:59 +0000

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.

By: Sonya

Sonya — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:59:42 +0000

First world problems, end of story.

By: Neil

Neil — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:29:17 +0000

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.

By: Pers

Pers — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:28:23 +0000

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!

By: Nikki

Nikki — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:38:18 +0000

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.

By: leelee

leelee — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:37:58 +0000

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

By: whimsymim

whimsymim — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:24:54 +0000

Him! See above comment…

By: whimsymim

whimsymim — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:24:07 +0000

A man in his fifties wrote it…seriously!

By: whimsymim

whimsymim — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:21:51 +0000

I’m not sure if the rampaging local ‘pests’ would have been interested in my old sofa…

By: whimsymim

whimsymim — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:20:46 +0000

This note was written by a man in his fifties…don’t you just love it!

By: whimsymim

whimsymim — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:18:31 +0000

Oh he is…he really is

By: whimsymim

whimsymim — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 04:15:35 +0000

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.