Gloria Ferris

Yesterday, I took the dogs out and was admiring the beautiful blue sky when my eyes focused on large gray splatters on the roof of our house. I went in and asked Tim to come out and observe what I saw. We both surmised that the mysterious spots could be coming from the construction crew working on the roof next door. Tim had already had a conversation with them about using our hedge as the posts for their construction fence. They couldn’t see the problem with the breakage they had caused when tying construction tape to the branches. Tim by example got a post from the garage, disentangled the fence from our hedge and staked the fence so that it stayed upright without using our property. Something the construction crew appeared incapable of doing.

Tim suggested that this time I should deal with the construction crew. He wasn’t sure that he could remain civil a second time. I wasn’t sure that I could either but agreed that my chances might be better than his. As I walked down our sidewalk, I noticed a three inch gray foam pooling at points on the sidewalk. Obviously, the use of the fire hydrant had somehow caused the pooling of water and somehow concrete dust had congregated in front of our property as well. I noticed that there was a man busily sweeping and scrubbing at the construction site. No one was working on my sidewalk.

When I reached the point where all the guys were congregated, I noticed that this side of my roof was even more speckled than the other side. I then noticed that my ivy, rose of sharon and other bushes were splattered as well. When I pointed out the condition of my property, the construction foreman, I think, told me that I shouldn’t worry about it because it would wash away with the rain. It was “no big deal”. Then another man came over and wanted to know just what was the problem. The man pointed to the roof and the ground, and then the second man said “Hmmm, isn’t that odd we got the roof and the ground but didn’t get the side of the house”. I told him that I thought he should be glad they didn’t get the side of my house.

I thanked them for their assurance about it being “no big deal” but if it did not wash off when it rained who would I contact? He pointed to the name on the truck. I asked for a business card. He said there wasn’t any but he would give me a number to call. He came back with a number but no name. I asked for a name. So another trip, another three minutes of everyone looking at me like I had two heads. Why should it be so unusual that someone would ask for consideration of their property from a construction crew next door? Why did I have to ask? Why hadn’t they come to me when they noticed the splatters and told me exactly what was going on? Why hadn’t they asked if they could use our hedge as the post for their construction fence? Why did they think that it was okay to leave my sidewalk with three inches of concrete foam on it?

Still puzzled at the work ethic of today, I returned to my back yard where I noticed that the sandstone and ivy was splattered there as well. I didn’t even look in the direction of the trellis. I looked toward the building they were working on and down the side were huge concrete splatters on the brick, on the windows, and the stone. Worse than anything on my property. I sure hope that someone at CMHA complains about the quality of the work and that eyesore is taken care of soon.

It rained last night. In fact, it is still raining. The bushes and the sandstone are free from concrete splatter. My roof and trellis are still speckled. Since I am sure that if I call today, they will want me to wait until it stops raining because after all, the rain will wash it all away, I will wait until the rain stops. But then, the sun will come out and bake what is left into the shingles so that it wil be permanent probably, and then I will get the What do you want us to do, lady? As I ponder if I should just let it go or should I pursue it further I remember my dad who worked with concrete most of his life. He would never had left a job looking the way these guys did. Not because he was told to clean it up by someone else, but because he had a pride in his work and a consideration for others that would have never allowed him to Believe his job was done if he hadn’t left the place better than when he had arrived.

Where are we going? And, should we be stopping to assess what is happening as we move along? Why do people who are contracted to do a job not consider the surroundings? Especially, when those surroundings are so close to the work site? Is it the responsibility of the ones asking for the work to be done to make sure that neighbors are not adversely affected? Or should they be able to assume that the contractor will see this as an extension of the contract and make sure that there are no adverse effects? Is it so hard to treat people the way you would want to be treated?

I am sure that every one of those men on that crew yesterday would have felt the same way I did about what had happened if it had been their property that now looked as if it had been speckled by a flock of geese as they flew over on their way home. But, they never put themselves into MY shoes, they simply stayed in their shoes wanting to get done and on to the next job. It was quite evident as they continued to fold their tarps and pick up their tools while talking to me that they simply saw this as an impediment to their progress. How sad that consideration is not a way of life. We have strayed far from the path of “The Golden Rule” which appears in all religions in some form.

UPDATE:  The building manager is furious at the company who did the work on the roof next door.  It leaks. When he arrived and saw our roof he demanded that they make it right with our neighbors before you fix the leaks and  wash our windows and the brick on our building.  They have now done what they could to get the concrete mix off of our roof.  It remains to be seen what it will look like when it dries, but it is no longer speckled.  So, thank you, Mr. White and your maintenance crew for being good neighbors.