I (M32) live in Seattle, in the actual city, not one of the outskirt neighborhoods that call themselves Seattle. I live in the Cap hill/central district area, iykyk. Seattle obviously has a homelessness issue, but that doesn’t stop it from being a fantastic place to live. I’m not a NIMBY who doesn’t understand homelessness or inherently hates homeless people. Times are tough and many of these people are sick and cannot get help, I am sympathetic to that.
There’s this guy that is homeless in my neighborhood, let’s call him Jeff. Jeff is a drug-addicted homeless man (maybe 40-50) with a buying/hoarding mental issue and probably some other conditions. He’s been in the neighborhood a while and is not dangerous. He often comes into shops and etc for free food and will wave to you on the sidewalk or even chat with you for a minute– no problems there.
Thing is, Jeff likes to find a shopping cart and either go to goodwill or find a juicy dumpster and fill that cart to the brim with just garbage– mostly broken TVs, speakers, electronics and things that he perceives as valuable. If they once worked, they certainly don’t after sitting in the rain for a week. Every now and then you’ll see an abandoned card full of early 2000’s electronics and think "oh that’s Jeff’s".
Recently, Jeff’s been hoarding HARD. There were 5 shopping carts worth of junk lined up outside the neighborhood coffee shop. He did this same thing last year, and it caught fire somehow, threatening to burn down the building and causing damage to the nearby nail salon. As such, a group of concerned neighbors were gathered around the carts discussing what to do about them (the city doesn’t do anything) and they elected to push the carts to the building’s dumpster and throw all Jeff’s shit away. I agreed, went home to get some gloves, and helped in the effort.
A group of younger adults (gender ambiguous) came up and were kind of non-confrontationally not okay with what we were doing– "That’s Jeff’s stuff, he’s a good guy!" etc etc. They thought we were doing something shady by tossing his stuff when he wasn’t there. Side note– we separated out anything that could even potentially be of any value to Jeff; food scraps, clothes, etc, and only threw away the 5 or so carts filled with bricked electronics.
The younger kids were clearly upset with us for doing this and it seemed like they had arranged a deal with Jeff in where he was able to "safely" leave his stuff there, even temporarily. So long story short, AITA for pitching this dude’s literal garbage in a garbage can?
I want to help these people and not make their hard lives any harder, I truly mean that. But I’m tired of dodging garbage in my neighborhood. I’m tired of my dog stepping in broken glass. I’m tired of wondering if one of the homeless folks is going to light something on fire.
INFO
Have you ever spoken to Jeff about the issue of his items potentially causing problems? Did you speak to him about it this time?
I haven’t personally met him, but I would be happy to if I had the chance– I suspect he lives in an unauthorized/illegal encampment in an apartment complex on my block, but other people in that encampment ARE openly hostile which has stopped me from going over there.
INFO: Are there any electronics recyclers nearby? Some electronic recyclers have a minimum weight requirement before they pay for scrap, so he might have been stockpiling to hit that threshold.
Not to my knowledge. From what I’ve heard of this guy he scrounges money and PURCHASES alot of this stuff at the local goodwill so I don’t think it’s a play for money
NTA
Don’t leave garbage in public if you don’t want it thrown out.
I generally agree but sympathize that these people don’t have a place to put their stuff. It’s the fact that there is a precedent for his stuff causing harm and nearly catching an apt complex on fire that seemed to motivate people into action.
You missed an excellent opportunity to name him Hector. Hector the Collector by Shel Silverstein is clearly who he is.
You haven’t even tried personal contact with this person, but you’re trashing his stuff?
Regardless of your intentions or rationale, that makes YTA.
May Jeff be blessed. You have a beautiful heart. NTA. Society runs on order and safety, and street hoarding with the potential for fire affects more than just Jeff. And those saying “electronics should be recycled” can pay the fee to get someone out to recycle the items, or have the items dropped at their own home until the city sees fit to come get it… because very often (not always) the City won’t respond to one, or several requests for help.
I can’t run a business that welcomes Jeff in the cold and give him a free meal if my shop has burnt down, or even if clutters of trash have brought rats and *that* shut me down. The young people have become compassionate with more space than their own, bless their hearts. If they have solutions that remove the problem from the public sphere, then they’re getting somewhere. Just my opinion.
NTA. Since the city isn’t doing anything I’m glad you and the neighbors are. You sorted out the belongings and trashed the rest. Thank you.
(I used to live in the area. Miss the teriyaki and fresh salmon and the smell of fir trees.)
NTA: Jeffs things have proven to be a fire hazard before, and if your home burns down I don’t think any of those adults are going to give you a cent. As Ned Flanders said, you can’t live in someone’s good intentions.
NTA. Visit Seattle often, and know exactly what you’re talking about. Law Enforcement or city workers can’t touch his stuff or they will get a lawsuit. Jeff has SUD and MH, clearly with hoarding tendencies. He can’t help himself and because of the liberal laws, doesn’t have to help himself (treatment, shelter, case worker). Unless the local businesses said he could leave his carts at their businesses, and its unattended, I would also consider it garbage. To those outside of Seattle you look like an AH because we all know Jeff can’t store his collection and you know its his, and you know he thinks of it as his possessions. Maybe next time someone needs to try harder to talk to Jeff. Maybe offer to “store” his items until hes ready to “fix” them. But these behaviors can’t continue and hopefully the new mayor will make things better instead of worse. Seattle is better since 2020, but I walk /bus all over the city and still see homelessness garbage and dookie all over the place. I don’t think people understand how bad it is here.