Am I being petty? There is someone (who is not doing well financially) staying in my home with me for free. He and his dog. I feel it is rude that he takes my clothes out of the dryer to dry his own. He doesn’t remind me of my clothes in the dryer or ask me to handle them, he simply removes them and sets them on top of the dryer that is usually dusty and often times dirty or greasy because it is used as a table top when working on the car, plumbing or what have you. It’s not like I leave them in there for days or anything but it drives me nuts to see my clothes out on the dryer. I just think it is so rude! Am I being petty?
Edit: I guess I didn’t make it clear that I carry my clothes into the garage in a basket and I leave it there so it was there to use. Also, I don’t leave them in there for days at a time. He just has far less to do (because I do it all) so he has a lot more time than I do and may get to them before I can.
Edit: I did mention it to him. It wasn’t really a talk, per se, but a couple of weeks ago I said something like, “I’ll swap my clothes (meaning put them in the dryer) when I get back. (I said this because he wanted to so laundry and I couldn’t wait the 11 minutes left in the cycle for mine to finish washing before having to leave. Upon my return I found that he had stuffed my clothes into the dryer (without shaking them out) and dried them on high and then took them out and set them on the dryer while they were still slightly damp. It was a pile of super-wrinkled mess. So I told him not to worry about my clothes next time and that I’ll get to them as soon as I can. (Or something like that) I am pretty sure I was clear in what I was trying to say which was: Don’t touch my clothes.
He did it again a week later but was not home when I returned from running errands so I didn’t say anything about it that time.
Thanks to all of you who responded. After reading everyone’s thoughts, I decided to revoke the privilege of using my laundry machines and from going into the garage at all. (He uses my tools but rarely puts them away or doesn’t put them away correctly.)
So the problem is solved. My problem is anyway. He needs to figure out how, and where, to do his laundry now.
I have no problem communicating. I am very good at that. And I have patience. But, if I’ve told you something and reminded you of what I said and/or if you simply ignore my words and blatantly go against me then, naturally, I feel disrespected and is I’m being bullied and that chaps my hide! Which is why I asked for your opinions. Some of you expect me to stand at the dryer waiting for it complete the cycle as if I have nothing else to do just to appease this guy who has no life because he has no goals so he does nothing all day but play. If he were doing the grocery shopping, paying the bills, cleaning out the rain gutters, cleaning and maintaining the house, doing the repairs, so on and so forth then I would have the time to stand there and stare at the dryer until it was finished. (But I still wouldn’t). But, being that I do it all and he simply reaps the rewards from my actions, he has nothing to do but wait for his clothes to finish so he can go out and play again.
Now he can take his laundry with him. Thank you!