Vent: Non-Pampered Chef; No Advice Needed, Just a Vent

[chefann]

Don't you hate when you do people a favor, letting them borrow equipment, and they leave it a mess? And waste supplies by doing something stupid that they've been reminded not to do?

DH let a friend from our car club borrow the sandblaster. The friend used it over a week ago, although he may have used it this weekend, too, while we were gone. Today DH went out to the garage to do some stuff, including blasting some parts. The sandblaster was full of grease and crud from Friend's parts; there was sand all over the floor where the catch bucket had broken and Friend hadn't bothered to put a new one down; and there was white sand mixed with the other blasting medium.

UGH!! Some people!!

Gotta love what DH did, though. He took the gloves out of the cabinet as if he had been cleaning it (which he was), and then hid one. So it's not even usable. Which means that if Friend comes by to use it again, he'll have to talk to DH first. And DH is going to tell him to buy new sand and blasting medium to replace the batch that was ruined.

OK- I feel better now. I just had to vent about people who borrow things and then don't treat them with even minimal respect.

 

[janetupnorth]

Ann -

I see this all the time at camp. The attitude is "it isn't mind so why should I take care of it" vs. "someone let me borrow what they paid good money for so I should take care of their property".

I also see this at work ALL the time. If the individual had to spend money on the cart of whatever for themselves they'd take care of it, but since it is the "company's" and the "company" is big...who cares?

I TRY very hard to teach my kids to care for other peoples' property better than their own. I only hope they listen.

 

[chefann]

I might suggest to DH that he disconnect the air compressor so that even if Friend finds the gloves, it still can't be used. The part that really burns my biscuits is that this guy has more than enough money to buy his own sandblaster and compressor.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Ann - I can share this vent too!

DH has an open car trailer - but he also has rermovable sides for it, so it becomes a partially enclosed trailer. EVERYONE loves to borrow it. The problem is that almost every time he lets someone borrow it, they bring it back with parts missing/broken/dented etc.....It's gotten so bad, that DH - who would give you the shirt off his back - is thinking about asking for a deposit whenever someone borrows it. The worst part is that they don't even acknowledge that they damaged it - they just bring it back, park it, and leave - like we aren't going to notice that broken hitch?

 

[JAE]

Exactly why my husband won't ask anyone if we/he can borrow things. He doesn't want to be responsible for whatever happens to it.

 

[cmdtrgd]

Heh....borrow something of Friend's and dance on it!

 

[chefann]

He'd be the first to complain if something of his was borrowed and returned damaged. And not semi-anonymously, either. He'd be cussing the borrower up and down on DH's forum. Definitely one of those people who doesn't see in himself the qualities he complains about in other people.And we don't want to tick him off, because he's getting us our lighting for the kitchen remodel (he owns a commercial lighting company, and can get things wholesale).

 

[finley1991]

I had a consultant like that a few years ago. She would "borrow" my products and then basically refuse to return them. She would say, "Oh... yes, I still have it... I didn't think you'd notice it was gone." or "Why do you need it back? You have EVERYTHING ELSE?" Uh, because I earned it or paid for it? When she would return it, it was NEVER clean. Not even rinsed. She was such a jerk. And ironically, doesn't have a problem bad-mouthing me to anyone who mentions PC. The good news is that everyone knows she's full of crap.

 

[chefann]

And anyone who's met you would KNOW that she's lying! Those are the people we don't need on our teams. No matter how you try, they always seem to poison the rest of the group with their negativity. (Gee, that seems to be the recurring theme this week.)

 

[finley1991]

Thanks Ann!!!Seriously! What's happening? Is it a full moon or something? Are the tides off? Biorhythms off? I come here to get excited about my biz and some of it is just downright depressing!Oh well... I'm off to sit with my 5-year-old nephew this morning (that will perk me up! We're baking today!) and then we have a house showing this afternoon. Keeping my fingers crossed! Then home to make my 3 contacts and then off to a meeting tonight! Whew!Thanks for your help with the backup last night! Super cool!