The inscrutable po on 18/10/2006 at 18:56

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I had a contractor here today taking down a chimney. He starts throwing bricks down from the roof and while I was watching he shattered a big plastic bin that I use for recyclables, then another brick fell about thirty feet and bounced off a plastic trash receptacle. I was complaining to one of his assistants who was dodging bricks when another brick came down and shattered the arm of a redwood chair that I made 25 years ago.

It's not like there was a lot of stuff in the yard. He hit all three objects and broke two of them. I don't think I'll ever be able to replace the arm on that redwood chair. Why didn't he move my stuff first? He could have just told me to move it the day before.

Just to be more aggravating, when the plastic bin got hit, the guy on the ground told me it was already broken. I know damn well it wasn't broken and even if it was he had no business smashing my stuff (maybe even deliberately). It weighed all of 5 pounds. Would have been a snap to carry it out of harm's way.

At that point I figured these were just employees, but the most shocking thing was seeing that it was the boss himself up there doing this shit. It's like hiring Ghengis Khan to do a little work around the place.

Gorgonseye on 18/10/2006 at 19:39

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Can you deduct this from their pay check? Or if they refuse to allow that, threaten to sue?

Gorgonseye on 18/10/2006 at 23:51

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Well, by law, can't you sue for anything over 20 dollars? {Despite the fact it's highly uncommon to see something like that nowadays...}

Tocky on 19/10/2006 at 02:00

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Little boy- Mom! I've been watching the carpenters down the street and I know just how to be one!

Mom- You do!? Show me!

Little boy- Take this board and hold it against that wall.

Mom- Now what?

Little boy- Move it just a tiny little red cunt hair to the right.

Mom- Junior! Watch your language!

Little boy- You moved way too much. Move it back about a donkey dick.

Mom- One more time and I'm spanking you young man!

Little boy- Alright, fuck it then, nail the crooked bastard right where it is.

The inscrutable po on 19/10/2006 at 04:56

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Not so easy. It's four against one and they are, by the nature of the job, more physical people. They're intimidating. The guy throwing the bricks is the oldest of the bunch and the guy in charge, but I could sense they were all a little afraid of him. And then, believe it or not, I don't want to hurt his feelings. He's doing a dirty job for me. I need him to be on my side. It just kind of hurts that he would act like this when it would have been so easy just to move a few light objects and avoid all the trouble and that's assuming it was an accident.

I'm not convinced it was an accident that he hit the only three objects in the back yard within about ninety seconds when he thought I wasn't watching. I'm thinking psycho. A guy who goes through life domineering through subtle intimidation. A guy who's not so happy inside and this is how he takes it out on people, by pretending to accidentally damage things in the course of his work. Maybe he felt it wasn't his job to move my things. Maybe he thinks I'm a slob. I think it doesn't matter if I'm a slob or not but contractors are their own bosses. Often they don't have much formal education. They're looked down on by a lot of people so in general when you call them they know it's because now you need them. It's their chance to get their rocks of by treating your stuff like shit.