Reusable bags

[learningtofly]

So DD went off to an overnight with her grandparents and took so many toys I was able to find the floor again!  They was much rejoicing and cleaning.  I sent her off with an overnight bag and two reusable bags.  Both very nice.  One was for groceries and the other was perfect for small toys or carrying papers to and from work. 

Neither came back.  DD's toys were dumped in trash bags and sent home. I always send DD with these types of bags and they always come back.  I left them next to the toys she was playing with in plain site.  The logos are from places the ILs never go so they wouldn't confuse them with their bags.  Since they were awesome for packing her up I'd like them back.  Exactly how do I go about doing that?  Can I ask for them back?  It's so bizzarre that they sent all of her stuff home in trash bags.

[NyaChan]

I would just call and ask - Hey Grandparents?  I can't find the bags for DD's toys that I brought to your house.  They have X & Y logos on them.  Did they get left behind?

[cicero]

I would just call and ask - Hey Grandparents?  I can't find the bags for DD's toys that I brought to your house.  They have X & Y logos on them.  Did they get left behind?

yes

but really, i probably wouldn't have noticed. don't a lot of stores give these bags away nowadays? if my niece (don't have grandchildren yet), came to my house with "several bags" filled with toys, i would be more concerned on making sure i got all her  toys picked up then i would be with finding the exact bag that they were sent in (assuming it was one of those simple bags that are usually giveaways; not an expensive louis vitton set...)

[sourwolf]

I would just call and ask - Hey Grandparents?  I can't find the bags for DD's toys that I brought to your house.  They have X & Y logos on them.  Did they get left behind?

yes

but really, i probably wouldn't have noticed. don't a lot of stores give these bags away nowadays? if my niece (don't have grandchildren yet), came to my house with "several bags" filled with toys, i would be more concerned on making sure i got all her  toys picked up then i would be with finding the exact bag that they were sent in (assuming it was one of those simple bags that are usually giveaways; not an expensive louis vitton set...)

Cicero, no they don't give them away, you have to buy them, they are usually anywhere between $1 for the basic ones to $8 for a nice canvas bag. 

OP, I agree with the PP's is there any reason you can't just call and ask why the bags didn't make it home?

[CakeBeret]

I would ask for them back, but I wouldn't see it as a big deal.

I have a 2.5 year old, and reusable bags get passed all around in my family. He might leave with a reusable bag and come home with a grocery bag, or vice versa. It evens out.

[TootsNYC]

Just call and say, "Hey, can you find those reusable bags and set them aside, so I can pick them up the next time we come? I don't have a big supply, so I like to hang on to them."

Some people might think that the actual bags aren't such a big deal, so just ask.

I had this once; I would put a bill to pay into our co-op treasurer's box, using a clean envelope w/ a post-it on top; he'd return the bill and check in one of his "salvaged" envelopes (window envelopes from other mailings).

After the 2nd time, i just wrote him a note and said, "Please return these in the envelope I give them to you in; I use those clean, new envelopes for mailing the check out to the vendor, and I don't want to have to get yet another new one out."

I'll admit to being a little peeved, because since my *new* envelope was rightthere with the bill, it did seem as though he was cadging it for his own use and substituting his "salvaged" envelope. All the time I've known him, he has been saving the window envelopes, etc., from his bills to use for this sort of purpose--which is totally fine. But then when my clean, new ones went out but DIDN'T come back, it felt like he was taking advantage of me.

So I just simply asked, straightforwardly, and bingo! The stuff I give to him comes back in the same envelope.

[O'Dell]

I agree with those saying to just ask about them, but personally I'd just get replacement bags (assuming yours are the polypropylene ones that sell for $1-2).

The thing is I love those bags. I have canvas ones that I'd used for years but they don't stand up like the ******* ones. And they make carrying lots of groceries so much easier than the regular bags. So I really can't imagine not repacking them and making sure they got back to the rightful owner. Even if they aren't expensive, they are darned handy.

[fountainsoflettuce]

just call and ask for the bags.

Weren't these the same grandparents who disagreed with your parenting and you had serious concerns about their care of your daughter? 

[whatsanenigma]

I think I would treat the situation as if a toy or article of clothing had not come back.  It would be perfectly fine, I think, to just call and say that item XYZ didn't make it back with the kid and can the person send it back to you/put it aside so you can get it next time you come/whatever.

IMHO you are by no means wrong to want the bags back (for any reason or no reason) but also I don't think that not sending them back was necessarily malicious.  It was probably a case of, oh, we need to get this stuff packed back up before the kid goes home, but wait, where did those bags go? Never mind, here are some trash bags.

Personally I don't think they would be insulted by asking after any item, be it a toy or an extra shirt or a reuseable bag, that had accidently gotten left at their house.  And if by some small chance it wasn't actually an accident, then they would just learn that you were on to them.

[Bijou]

So DD went off to an overnight with her grandparents and took so many toys I was able to find the floor again!  They was much rejoicing and cleaning. I sent her off with an overnight bag and two reusable bags.  Both very nice.  One was for groceries and the other was perfect for small toys or carrying papers to and from work. 

Neither came back.  DD's toys were dumped in trash bags and sent home. I always send DD with these types of bags and they always come back.  I left them next to the toys she was playing with in plain site.  The logos are from places the ILs never go so they wouldn't confuse them with their bags.  Since they were awesome for packing her up I'd like them back.  Exactly how do I go about doing that?  Can I ask for them back?  It's so bizzarre that they sent all of her stuff home in trash bags.

The bolded above would make me want to give them the bags in exchange for having a clear space to clean.  But, they are your belongings as are the toys, etc, and should have been returned.  It is very odd that her stuff came back in trash bags, but it seems possible that they forgot they were sent over in those bags and the bags just got stashed.  You might call and thank them for having your dd over, say you'll be in their neighborhood such and such a time and wanted to bring them a plate of your homemade cookies and will pick up the bags at the same time.

[kareng57]

Just call and say, "Hey, can you find those reusable bags and set them aside, so I can pick them up the next time we come? I don't have a big supply, so I like to hang on to them."

Some people might think that the actual bags aren't such a big deal, so just ask.

I had this once; I would put a bill to pay into our co-op treasurer's box, using a clean envelope w/ a post-it on top; he'd return the bill and check in one of his "salvaged" envelopes (window envelopes from other mailings).

After the 2nd time, i just wrote him a note and said, "Please return these in the envelope I give them to you in; I use those clean, new envelopes for mailing the check out to the vendor, and I don't want to have to get yet another new one out."

I'll admit to being a little peeved, because since my *new* envelope was rightthere with the bill, it did seem as though he was cadging it for his own use and substituting his "salvaged" envelope. All the time I've known him, he has been saving the window envelopes, etc., from his bills to use for this sort of purpose--which is totally fine. But then when my clean, new ones went out but DIDN'T come back, it felt like he was taking advantage of me.

So I just simply asked, straightforwardly, and bingo! The stuff I give to him comes back in the same envelope.

I think it was a bit much to be peeved at him for not being a mind-reader.  Quite possibly - for him, an envelope was an envelope.

Obviously it was resolved with a quick note, and IMO the OP only needs to do the same - ask the ILs about the bag.  Maybe they're of the same mindset - a bag is a bag - and it will eventually get returned during a future bag-cycle.

[TootsNYC]

I think it was a bit much to be peeved at him for not being a mind-reader.  Quite possibly - for him, an envelope was an envelope.

Obviously it was resolved with a quick note, and IMO the OP only needs to do the same - ask the ILs about the bag.  Maybe they're of the same mindset - a bag is a bag - and it will eventually get returned during a future bag-cycle.

Actually, no, to him an envelope is NOT an envelope, because he has made it a lifelong point to not use fresh, mailable envelopes for communication to us inside the co-op, but to "salvage" unmailable envelopes. Precisely BECAUSE he make sure not to use them, it felt even more as if he was setting aside the nice envelope in the "other" stash.

and if an envelope was just an envelope, why wouldn't he just use the one that was immediately in front of him--the one I gave him the bill in? Why would he reach for another one?

I have no *proof* of why he did what he did, but it was sitting next to some other facts  that made me a little annoyed.

And my basic point was that I didn't act on that suspicion--I simply asked for my envelope back.

[VorFemme]

I bought some of the store logo bags before our vacation in 2009.  I packed groceries in them (timeshare villa with a kitchen) to make it easy to tell where things went - the "grocery bags" went into the kitchen.

They got used again between week 1 and week 2 to pack things to the next resort.

They got packed to bring various odds & ends home at the end of week 2.  Things like half a bag of flour, half a box of cereal, etc.

But I haven't seen them since we unpacked the car and I put away the groceries.  I wonder if VorGuy and VorSon trashed them after I emptied them.  I've bought a couple more (same price at Salvation Army as at the grocery store) - one is in my car to use when I shop.  The second has shelf stable foods for VorGuy's desk at work (newly diagnosed diabetic - he is not supposed to be skipping meals). 

I'm wondering if I ever see it again.

I also have three rip stop nylon bags that I sewed in the late 1980s and a carrier for them in my tote bag in the car (more likely to get into the store than the one in the back of the van) - they've aged amazingly well and take up about as much space as a pair of big sunglasses in a case. 

[Pen^2]

I'd definitely ask for the bags back.

Cost and ease of replacement isn't the issue here. It's not up to others to determine the worth of our own belongings. I have cheap, crummy things which have tremendous sentimental value, for example. The dollar signs are irrelevant. It's rude (and, frankly, supremely unempathetic and egocentric) for other people to assume that we care about our own belongings at the exact same level as they do.

Even if they're just bags, they're your bags, and it's not up to anyone else to go over your head and decide what should happen to your possessions.

That said, don't assume they did this on purpose (unless you have evil in-laws or something). It's an easy mistake to make, after all.

Ring up/text/whatever and say something like, "DD had a great time, thanks again for having her! Also two of our bags got left behind, could you put them aside so I can pick them up next time I come over? Thanks!"

[WillyNilly]

Like others, I say just ask for them back.

But I see getting annoyed.  I get really really internally ticked off when people put not trash in trash bags.  Its just a subtly nasty and cruel and thoughtless thing to do IMO.  The very name "trash bag", not to mention their most common usage: trash, makes it just so obviously not ok for items that are not trash to be put in them.  Grocery bags, reused boxes, reusables, I don't care, but trash bags?  No, not cool.  It seems like a little thing on the surface but subconsciously its clicking somewhere - your (or your child's) stuff is quite literally being treated as garbage.