DEAR MISS MANNERS: I live in a city that uses large trash bins, which we wheel out on certain days for pickup. Last week, as the trash collectors drove by, I realized I had forgotten to take my bin out. I quickly wheeled my bin across the street, as the truck does that side later.
A few minutes later, the neighbor whose house I had put my bin in front of (on the city street, not on her property) knocked on my door. She asked me why I had put my bin in front of her house. I told her what had happened. She told me it was rude to do that, and that next time I should write her a note.
I was a bit flabbergasted, as A. She has a driveway, so I was not blocking her parking space, B. It’s a pandemic and our street is pretty empty right now, and C. When it’s not a pandemic, we live on a busy street where unknown cars are almost always parked in front of our houses.
Am I missing some etiquette, or is this lady crazy?
GENTLE READER: Stir-crazy, perhaps. And not very nice.
Miss Manners would think that people had more important things to worry about than temporary trash can placement. But then, you probably have more important concerns than getting into a tiff with a neighbor. A pleasant “I’ll try not to do it again, but I’ll let you know if I have to” should close the matter.