Ah, the joys of owning a garage. Originally added to homes to store vehicles—replacing carriage houses and stables for horses—many become spots to store “stuff.”
And it’s not always the garage owner’s stuff.
Adult children, extended family, and friends can all end up taking up space in a person’s garage. Getting anything stored in a garage back out again, however, can be a major undertaking.
A person dealing with garage storage issues—and squirrels—turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for feedback.
SpecialistPie1037 asked:
“AITA for throwing out my friend’s couch after it sat in my garage for 3.5 years, even though I said she could only store it for two weeks?”
The original poster (OP) explained:
“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.”
GIPHY
“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.”
GIPHY
“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’.”
GIPHY
“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?”
“AITA?”
The OP summed up their situation.
“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.”
“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 a**hole.”
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors unanimously decided the OP was not the a**hole (NTA).
“NTA. Your friend is an ungrateful flake. She did you a favor by cutting off contact.” ~ Allaboutbird
“Seriously! It’s like she ghosted the couch and the friendship, then popped back up acting like it was still 2019. Honestly, dodged a bullet wrapped in upholstery.” ~ raymondviajsi98
“OP you’re overthinking while clearly your friend isn’t thinking about you or your friendship at all. It’s clear you did everything you could whilst she did nothing. You were more invested than she was. Invest in better friends. NTA.” ~ PlasticLab3306
“I would have laughed in this person’s face, except it never would have got to that point. After a month I would have said it was going out with the next month’s garbage, and then I would have followed through.” ~ Winter_Gate_6433
“NTA. That couch was legally abandoned long ago. If she makes noise, charge her storage fees for 3.4 years of the time.” ~ LouisV25
“Ya, I would have told her it got ruined as I was handing her the bill for having it hauled to the dump then said you’re welcome for storing it for free for the last 3 years.” ~ LeoMSt
“NTA. She became the a**hole at ‘I’m a Sagittarius. We’re not good at this stuff’.”
“You did nothing wrong, although I would have been a bit firmer early on.”
“If I’d been dealing with OP’s friend, it would have been that remark that would make me think to myself, ‘I’m dealing with a complete flake here. Remind me why this person is my friend? Time for their couch to go. If their friendship goes with it, too bad’, and issued the ultimatum.”
“Rather than waiting for her kids to come and get it, I’d have issued one final ultimatum, one month in: ‘We’re already two weeks past the deadline you agreed to. Tomorrow, it’s going out of my garage onto the front lawn. Your kids can come and pick it up, or not, I don’t really care. If it’s not gone three days after that, I’m sending it to the dump’.”
“You wrote, ‘She hasn’t spoken to me since. Unfriended. Full stop’. Problem solved.” ~ ThisWillAgeWell
“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 in a polite manner.” ~ MACRS_or_Break
“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.” ~ fIumpf
“NTA. 6 years! the couch would have be infested by now in the garage.”
“I would have given them 24 hours after it arrived, or it would be sold, donated, or taken to a dump. They never had permission to place it there for months, let alone years.” ~ Swimming-City-5001
“Your use of the word ‘friend’ is awfully generous. Her only response should have been a big apology.”
“The fact that she thought it was okay to use you for free storage for YEARS is actually insane.”
“If she’s gone friends-off over this, send her an invoice for storage and removal. NTA.” ~ apothekryptic
“NTA but I think you missed the easy solution. ‘All that, just to keep it out of her siblings’ hands’.”
“After the pickup date, tell her she has one week to pick it up. If she doesn’t, you’re contacting the siblings to see if anyone wants it and will come get it.”
“If not, it’s going to the dump, and you’ll Venmo her for the cost. When being a good friend doesn’t motivate, perhaps spite will.” ~ ApprehensiveBook4214
“NTA – she’s the saggiterrorist.” ~ LuckySection446
“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.” ~ ScarletNotThatOne
“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.”
“YTA to the squirrels. Where are they living now‽‽” ~ No-Sea1173
The OP offered a brief update:
“The squirrels moved to a mid-century bird feeder in the neighbor’s yard.”
GIPHY
We love a happy ending.
This friendship may be over, but at least the squirrels are OK.