Etiquette re landscapers taking their lunch break on my front lawn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last week our landscapers did this and I invited them into our screened-in porch to sit at a table with the fan going to eat their lunch. I provided them with ice water as well.

OP, you are not a good person.

sure you did. OP, I get it, having a bunch of random men laying down in my yard would make me a little uncomfortable. Yes it's hot and I always offer water but I wouldn't invite then into my house. I had a deck installed one summer so there were a bunch of guys doing the work right outside of my back door and it made me uncomfortable. cant explain why but a little intrusive. in your case I would not ask then to stop for reasons already mentioned, and I know it's my own hang up.

Yes, that's right. I did.

It's your own hang up, no question.

What is wrong with people?

[Anonymous]

Wow you are a horrible person. I’d love to see if you could even last one day doing their job. I bet not. Be thankful that those guys are willing to work incredibly hard for not a lot of money to do something that you won’t do yourself. Shame on you. I’d offer them water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow you are a horrible person. I’d love to see if you could even last one day doing their job. I bet not. Be thankful that those guys are willing to work incredibly hard for not a lot of money to do something that you won’t do yourself. Shame on you. I’d offer them water.

But OP knows exactly what it's like. She did Habitat for Humanity once!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Formatting keeps getting messed up. Apparently there is not a single thing I can say in my own defense. I never said I had done the most grueling labor of all time. I never compared it to anyone's livelihood. Someone asked if I had *ever* done outdoor labor in the summer, and I answered. I have many problems, and of course you know nothing about them. But it is belittling to assume that you do. Everyone on this thread is exhausting.

Because... maybe nothing you say is justifying your being upset over this. Have you thought about that? That the problem here is you?

I asked for opinions and I received them. I am not justifying my right to continue to be upset. That last poster attacked me for simply responding to someone else's question. But I am responding to people civilly, and people continue to take everything I say as an excuse to call me a monster, trash, and assume I am rich or have no problems in my life. I am happy to drop it. But I think you all really just delight in waving your pitchforks around.

Now, seriously, OP. This is exactly the set of responses I expected when I read your OP. What did you expect?

Its their virtue signaling they are waving around.

Again, what did you expect? You asked for opinions. You asked what others think you should do. They are telling you. You just don’t like what you are hearing.

Well, except for that one person (two?) who agree with you.

If you can’t take the criticism, don’t post.

[Anonymous]

Clearly you should hire another (well-fed) landscaper to come and water the lawn right as they finish so no one can rest after their labors.

[Anonymous]

Wow, begrudging them a shady spot for a short rest? Jfc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to see a quick poll of the room as to how many people here serve contractors lemonade. As to being a monster, geez... I called it a minor irritation. Considering all the things that people are capable of, and have done in recent news, perhaps your perspective needs adjustment. It's not like I don't think they deserve a break. I just never volunteered my front lawn as their personal breakroom.

OP - where to you think they should take their break? Your neighbor's lawn?

How about yours?

[Anonymous]

methinks if your private banker wealth adviser took a 30 minute phone call from under that tree, you wouldn't be on here asking the question. So, assuming that's the case, ask yourself why.

[Anonymous]

You can't be serious. OP, this is common practice (to have workers eat at your location) and it is kind and decent thing to allow them to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people may be unfairly denigrating op based on her poorly worded title/potentially misinterpreting the situation.

When OP references her “landscapers” in the title I think many (myself included) envisage a team of workers working on a massive property for at least multiple hours per day. If this is in fact the case then absolutely she’s a monster for begrudging them taking a lunch break to relax out of the hot sun for 30-60 minutes during the shift.

From the actual post, however it sounds like op actually has a weekly lawn mowing service, (which we have and at least in our case consists of ~15 minutes of service/week) and the employees are regularly hanging out on OPs property either before starting or after completing the work.

If the latter is the case and the lawn service is showing up to complete a quick 15-30 minute job but routinely taking an extra 30-60 minutes before or after to hang out to eat lunch and rest on her property I would also be annoyed and seek another service.

why?

Because having strangers hanging out in our small yard area is disruptive/noisy, especially as we have young kids. As neither my husband nor I are keen to mow the lawn ourselves, a 15-20 minute disturbance is worth the chore saved. If the length of the disturbance was regularly tripled to 45-75 minutes because the crew opted to take a break in our yard that was 2-4x as long as the actual service they provided we would probably rethink the pro/con calculus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last week our landscapers did this and I invited them into our screened-in porch to sit at a table with the fan going to eat their lunch. I provided them with ice water as well.

OP, you are not a good person.

sure you did. OP, I get it, having a bunch of random men laying down in my yard would make me a little uncomfortable. Yes it's hot and I always offer water but I wouldn't invite then into my house. I had a deck installed one summer so there were a bunch of guys doing the work right outside of my back door and it made me uncomfortable. cant explain why but a little intrusive. in your case I would not ask then to stop for reasons already mentioned, and I know it's my own hang up.

Yes, that's right. I did.

It's your own hang up, no question.

What is wrong with people?

Calling it your “hang-up” doesn’t justify callous behavior. Although I think Op is an obvious troll.

[Anonymous]

I would offer them the patio table, a fan, and some bottles of water. I'm not reading through the whole thread, but I'm pretty damn sure that's the consensus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Random people? No. But somebody I hire to do work that I am satisfied with, where I know they don’t have an accessible break room, at a time of day that makes sense when they are obviously careful to clean up after themselves?

Yeah, be okay with that.

This is the answer. If you are opposed to having them take a reasonable break at a reasonable time, then ask for a different service time. You are about to have a weekly meeting at that time starting in September. You are typically using the yard midday. Personally, I would suggest leaving it. You might get stuck doing your own yard work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd love to see a quick poll of the room as to how many people here serve contractors lemonade. As to being a monster, geez... I called it a minor irritation. Considering all the things that people are capable of, and have done in recent news, perhaps your perspective needs adjustment. It's not like I don't think they deserve a break. I just never volunteered my front lawn as their personal breakroom.

I don't get this comment. I am not known as an overly giving person, but I always keep a small collection of drinks in my fridge for contractors and such. It's hot, and they work hard. I always thought that was pretty normal...?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people may be unfairly denigrating op based on her poorly worded title/potentially misinterpreting the situation.

When OP references her “landscapers” in the title I think many (myself included) envisage a team of workers working on a massive property for at least multiple hours per day. If this is in fact the case then absolutely she’s a monster for begrudging them taking a lunch break to relax out of the hot sun for 30-60 minutes during the shift.

From the actual post, however it sounds like op actually has a weekly lawn mowing service, (which we have and at least in our case consists of ~15 minutes of service/week) and the employees are regularly hanging out on OPs property either before starting or after completing the work.

If the latter is the case and the lawn service is showing up to complete a quick 15-30 minute job but routinely taking an extra 30-60 minutes before or after to hang out to eat lunch and rest on her property I would also be annoyed and seek another service.

why?

Because having strangers hanging out in our small yard area is disruptive/noisy, especially as we have young kids. As neither my husband nor I are keen to mow the lawn ourselves, a 15-20 minute disturbance is worth the chore saved. If the length of the disturbance was regularly tripled to 45-75 minutes because the crew opted to take a break in our yard that was 2-4x as long as the actual service they provided we would probably rethink the pro/con calculus.

"Disturbance"

lol