In 2019, a friend asked if she could store a couch in my garage. It had belonged to her late father, and they were clearing out his house.
I said no.
My garage is small. One car and barely any extra room. It isn’t insulated, it leaks, and squirrels basically have squatter rights. I don’t store anything there on purpose. I also told her that people always say they’ll “pick it up soon,” and then never do. Somehow the person doing the favor becomes the villain.
She kept pushing. I offered options:
– Rent a storage unit
– Get a U-Haul, take the couch home, and have her kids drive up and get her car
– Leave it at her dad’s and take the risk
Her niece even borrowed a trailer to bring it to me. All that, just to keep it out of her siblings’ hands.
I finally said yes, but I was crystal clear. Two weeks. After that, I could do whatever I wanted with it.
She said absolutely. Her kids would be there that weekend to pick it up.
They never came.
I called a few times that first year.
“Oh yeah, we’ll come get it.”
Crickets.
In one of my “please get your couch” calls, she said, “I’m a Sagittarius. We’re not good at this stuff.”
I’m still not sure what that has to do with picking up your couch.
I tried again in year two. Same story. After that, I gave up. She never once brought it up on her own.
Around year three and a half, I had construction work happening. The crew backed a trailer into the garage and accidentally crushed the couch. When we looked closer, it was already moldy and torn apart by squirrels. The workers felt bad. I told them not to worry. It had been sitting there for years.
We even discussed whether I should tell her. Everyone agreed there wasn’t much point. She hadn’t mentioned it in over three years.
So I didn’t.
Fast forward to this year — now year six. I mention I’m cleaning out the garage and she casually says, “Oh, I need to come get that couch.”
Me: “It’s gone. The squirrels got it.”
Her: “What?”
Me: “Yeah. The garage isn’t insulated. They love it in there.”
Her: “I had no idea.”
Me: “You did. You just forgot. And I said two weeks.”
She hasn’t spoken to me since. Unfriended. Full stop.
Meanwhile, I lived around that couch. I broke my toe on it. I had to work around it constantly. I paid to have it hauled away. It took up space I didn’t have for three and a half years. The first time she brought it up was in year six.
So I’m really asking:
Should I have told her back when it got ruined, even though she hadn’t asked about it in years?
At year six, should I have just said “sure, come get it” and played along, even though I doubt she would have?
Or was this always going to end the same way, no matter what I did?
TL;DR:
Friend asked to store her dad’s couch “for two weeks.” I said no, then agreed with a firm limit. She left it for 3.5 years. Couch was destroyed. I tossed it and didn’t tell her. She finally mentioned it in year six. Now she’s upset. AITA?
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In 2019, a friend asked if she could store a couch in my garage. It had belonged to her late father, and they were clearing out his house.
I said no.
My garage is small. One car and barely any extra room. It isn’t insulated, it leaks, and squirrels basically have squatter rights. I don’t store anything there on purpose. I also told her that people always say they’ll “pick it up soon,” and then never do. Somehow the person doing the favor becomes the villain.
She kept pushing. I offered options:
– Rent a storage unit
– Get a U-Haul, take the couch home, and have her kids drive up and get her car
– Leave it at her dad’s and take the risk
Her niece even borrowed a trailer to bring it to me. All that, just to keep it out of her siblings’ hands.
I finally said yes, but I was crystal clear. Two weeks. After that, I could do whatever I wanted with it.
She said absolutely. Her kids would be there that weekend to pick it up.
They never came.
I called a few times that first year.
“Oh yeah, we’ll come get it.”
Crickets.
In one of my “please get your couch” calls, she said, “I’m a Sagittarius. We’re not good at this stuff.”
I’m still not sure what that has to do with picking up your couch.
I tried again in year two. Same story. After that, I gave up. She never once brought it up on her own.
Around year three and a half, I had construction work happening. The crew backed a trailer into the garage and accidentally crushed the couch. When we looked closer, it was already moldy and torn apart by squirrels. The workers felt bad. I told them not to worry. It had been sitting there for years.
We even discussed whether I should tell her. Everyone agreed there wasn’t much point. She hadn’t mentioned it in over three years.
So I didn’t.
Fast forward to this year — now year six. I mention I’m cleaning out the garage and she casually says, “Oh, I need to come get that couch.”
Me: “It’s gone. The squirrels got it.”
Her: “What?”
Me: “Yeah. The garage isn’t insulated. They love it in there.”
Her: “I had no idea.”
Me: “You did. You just forgot. And I said two weeks.”
She hasn’t spoken to me since. Unfriended. Full stop.
Meanwhile, I lived around that couch. I broke my toe on it. I had to work around it constantly. I paid to have it hauled away. It took up space I didn’t have for three and a half years. The first time she brought it up was in year six.
So I’m really asking:
Should I have told her back when it got ruined, even though she hadn’t asked about it in years?
At year six, should I have just said “sure, come get it” and played along, even though I doubt she would have?
Or was this always going to end the same way, no matter what I did?
TL;DR:
Friend asked to store her dad’s couch “for two weeks.” I said no, then agreed with a firm limit. She left it for 3.5 years. Couch was destroyed. I tossed it and didn’t tell her. She finally mentioned it in year six. Now she’s upset. AITA?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I didn’t tell her the couch got destroyed at 3.5 years, even though she left it with me for “two weeks.” She never brought it up, and I didn’t want to be the one to deliver bad news. Maybe I should’ve told her once it was gone — or at least said “sure, come get it” at year six and let the charade continue. I’m wondering if my silence made me the asshole.
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
NTA. She should be grateful you didn’t charge her rent!
NTA. You did your part, and way more. She didn’t do hers. How it played out was exactly how you told her it would play out: the squirrels got it. Oh well.
NTA.
You aren’t obligated to store her property indefinitely, and it’s reasonable to dispose of the property after a reasonable time and after you have clearly contacted her about the issue.
You did this in good form and it a polite manner.
NTA.
That couch was legally abandoned long ago.
If she makes noise, charge her storage fees for 3.4 years of the time. 😂😂😂
NTA. Your friend is an ungrateful flake. She did you a favor by cutting off contact.
NTA. 6 years! the couch would have be infested by now in the garage.
I would have gotten given them a 24 hours after it arrived or it would be sold, donated or taken to dump. They never had permission to place it there.
NTA you’re too good of a friend. You said two weeks and you let it lapse over 182. You gave her more than plenty of notice. Next time do yourself the favour and chuck it after the agreed upon time is done.
If the only thing she was friends with you for was storing her crap, she wasn’t a good friend anyway.
NTA; though it would have been nice had you told her that you needed to toss it.
NTA, and I’d send her the bill for having it hauled away.
-No, you needn’t tell her it got ruined, she wasn’t going to care anyways
-At year 6, if you told her to come get it, she wouldn’t have
-This was always going to end the way it did
It was going to end that way no matter what. She’s not a good friend or a reasonable person if she’s blaming you.
NTA.
Y.T.A.H to the squirrels. Where are they living now?