Things that happen at work:
This is semi new information for me, but I’ve run into a few situations over the last month or so that have really hammered home that this is not common knowledge.
Your city, town, village, or whatever...they technically own the first three feet of your lawn.
It’s part of the Right Of Way, and actual inches depends on where and what you own, but still. If your utility company comes out to renew your neighborhood main line, they issue for a permit, establish a traffic plan, and they have the right to back a bore drill onto your lawn up to the last inch of the right of way.
I’m gonna be completely honest here; every foreman I’ve ever worked with, for my specific company, has been super careful about lawn stuff. It’s an expense coming out of his budget report that determines his raise, and you better believe that he’s not gonna back up over some dahlias to get the main in if he can figure out a way around that. Not that he knows the difference between dahlias and oriental lilies, but still. And when he has to do it anyway, I get to make the call and explain to the homeowner literally the entire scope of the project.
So, if you see guys cutting a hole in the street in front of your house, the honest to god best solution is to ask the nearest dude in a hard hat to speak to the foreman. Ask what’s going on; they fucking love to talk about the shit they know. Keep in mind that their job is safety oriented, not customer service.
(Side note: I’ve seen all of the guys talk rough, but I’ve never seen catcalling. If you have raspberry bushes out front, they can probably produce documentation for official taste testing. But it’s gonna be Ron Swanson style.)
Bottom line, though; the only time you need the supervisors phone number is if restoration doesn’t happen in the time frame, or quality, promised. Ask for it just in case, but you probably won’t need it.
TAKE PICTURES IF SOMETHING IS WRONG. If you’re uncomfortable with any part of the construction process, take pictures and videos. Unnarrated videos are best, because the legal submission of evidence is not a YouTube channel, but if a company fucked the duck, they would rather make it right before it has to go any higher.
Side warning: if you’re gonna be a Karen, we are going to document every single time you yelled at ANY of our employees. We’re not gonna retaliate, but we will have you on file and laugh at you. A lot.
