Category: Let's talk
For some reason I will never understand, I have always wanted to tell someone to get off my property... now, after 20+ years on Spaceship Earth, I got the opportunity to do so.
Let me backtrack a bit first. Last year, we had our lawn air-raded (spelling?) by a lawn care company. They contacted my husband earlier this year asking if he was interested in getting it done again in the spring. He told them that he and I would talk and he'd get back to them. With my not working for most of the winter, such things are a bit out of our budget, but we would get back to them.
About a month ago, the same company called again, letting hubby know they would be in the neighborhood in early May, and please get back to them if he was interested. Hubby swears up and down that he did not contact them and agree to get the lawn done this year, and no confirmation was received regarding dates, times, or otherwise.
On Friday - a beautiful sunny spring day in Alberta - I left my house to go for a walk... and nearly killed myself on my pathway leading from the sidewalk to my house. Someone moved one of our big flower pots right into the middle of the walkway! Also, a machine that sounded like a lawn mower was just sitting running in the corner of our front lawn, with no technician in evidence.
I decided in a moment of brilliance to sit on the front step and wait for the absentee lawn care worker to show up and turn off his machine. After a few minutes, he came back and turned it off.
Me: Excuse me... but what exactly are you doing?
Yard worker: Does (hubby) live here?
Me: Yes... but what are you doing here?
Worker: He said we could come by and air-rade the lawn.
Me: I've been home for the past three hours... you couldn't knock?
Worker: Oh... it didn't look like anyone was home.. so
Me: You couldn't KNOCK?
Worker: Oh, I'm sorry...
Me: I don't care if you're sorry! You do not have my permission to be here. I want you to take your backpack and your machine, move everything you moved back to where it was before you moved it, and get off my property.
Worker: I'm so sorry ma'am... I thought Ben said it was OK...
Me: I know I keep coming back to this... but you couldn't KNOCK?
Worker: I am so...
Me: Whatever. Take your stuff and go... you might be able to do this work if you decide to do the decent thing and ask permission to come on to my property. As it stands now, you don't have it, so GO!
After he left, I stayed at home for another hour or so, and then I heard a knock on the door. Turns out the manager of the company is there, saying that he thought we wanted the work done because he'd talked to my husband earlier in the year. I asked when he called and confirmed dates and times, and he admitted that it didn't happen.
I basically told him he couldn't just show up randomly and expect to do work. If he wanted to wait for my husband, he could sit on the steps, but it'd be a while before he was available.. He asked when my husband would be home, and I told him "When he gets home," turned around, and slammed the door behind me.
I talked to my husband when he got home that night, and he confirmed that he had received neither a call or a voicemail indicating a preferred date and/or time for the work to be done... not long after which the first guy came back and asked to speak with him.
Anti-climactically, my husband, being the calm guy that he is, basically told the company that at this time we were not able to take advantage of their service at this time, and in future if they wish to do business with us to contact both of us first.
Hubby then told me that he didn't lose his cool (inferring "like you did"), and I told him that if he were at home, he would've done the same thing I did.
His response?
"Maybe... perhaps.... Yes."
Kate 1, lawn care company.... 0!
I can understand your frustration, but I don't think I would have acted in that way. Being rude to anyone doesn't get you anywhere except making yourself look like a jerk.
Nope you did good. You paid for the property and people can't just come on your lawn like that, and by the way, bill you later for the work. That kind of scalping is unnecessary and you should defend your property. You have my support on this one.
I guess I'm just not one to get all bent out of shape about things and treat people this way.
it isn't a matter of getting bent out of shape. it's a question of what's legally and everything else related, Cate's, and the fact that, since it's legally hers and her husband's, no one else can do as they please, without express permission. to think so, is beyond idiotic.
I'm with Crazy and Leo on this one. Maybe there's a fine line between assertive and rude, and I admit sometimes I cross that line myself, but I'd rather people know where I stand. You can't let others walk on you like that.
Good on ya, Kate. Sometimes, courtesy doesn't cut it.
So, union girl you'd pay for a service you didn't want or could afford? You see she never cursed him, nor treated him baddly, she just told him to get off, because she never asked for his services. Not rude at all.
Supposing she just allowed him to do the work, then what?
I think you did exactly the right thing. I don't know about where you live, but in my area all you have to do is listen to the local news in the evenings and hear stories about how people get taken advantage of by lawn care companies, contractors, and all sorts of home maintenance companies all because someone shows up at their door and convinces them that they have already agreed to the service, and these people are afraid to back down or call another family member to see if someone else agreed to it. So they let the work get done and then are in trouble when they can't pay for it. So you did exactly the right thing.
That's just sad. The myriad ways people have found to swindle others is incredibly disheartening.
The vehemence of the whole thing might be considered a bit high if it was a matter of course, but one shout doesn't make a summer, to put a spin on the old euphemism here. Could there have been a little more civility? Yes, on both sides, particularly on the part of the company.
Not intended, maybe, but this did give me a bit of a smile to read. Not because I think bullying is funny, but more because of how sometimes a serious thing can seem just the slightest bit ridiculous in hindsight. I can't help but see the comic potential in life.
i think you should rewrite it. then submitt to readers digest. perhaps with athe title,"get off my lawn!
" lol lol got a chuckle from reading the post.
Way to go, Kate. I'd have handled it the same way. Good on you for standing up and putting the guy in his place. Or rather, both guys, the lawn care guy and his manager. They needed it, because if you had not happened to be home, they'd have done the work anyway without permission, and you'd have gotten charged for it. As you said, Kate 1, lawn care company 0. Grins.
I agree with most here. why should she not be assertive and stand up for herself when someone's crossed her property line. Also, the person moved the pot into her walkway, which could have resulted in an injury. That's almost criminal. I'd be pretty mad tooo if I were Kate.
LOL Readers Digest? Seriously? LOL
Glad I got the chuckles.
She'd not win. First she'd have to prove the contractors knew she was blind.
Next she's got to prove that he knew she'd be home and would comeout and trip over her own flower pot.
Next she'd have to prove she didn't move it herself and just got drunk and forgot.
And well.... Lol
Next time use your cane. You never know when some contractor might dig a deep hole where your front porch was.
JK.
Nobody can just barge onto your lawn like that. Good for you!
She doesn't even have to prove she's blind to win. Seems to me all she has to do is prove the contractor entered her property unannounced and unwanted. You ought to be able to not use a cane on your own property, and if someone comes onto your property without permission and creates a danger, whether you're blind or sighted, they should be held accountable, not you. If someone creates a danger on your property and you happen to be blind, why should you as a blind person be held to a higher standard than a sighted person who arguably should've paid enough attention to see what was going on but was distracted by some external force like the call of a neighbor or being unable to find his car keys? I'm afraid that in my court, if the contractor creates a danger on your property, blind or sighted, summary judgment goes to the plaintiff.
Yeah. And anyway it's not as though she was cussing him out.
LOL
The irony is I was using my cane... but the angle I was walking at and the roundness of the flower pot... meant that the cane didn't hit the flower pot.