A Booming Success… Sort Of
I work as a boom truck delivery driver for a build supply company. For those not familiar with boom trucks, they’re large flatbed trucks with cranes on them to unload material.
This customer has ordered a bunch of heavy decking material for a family member, so it is being delivered on my truck.
When I arrive, the house is one of those units where four other houses were directly connected to each other, so the only way to the backyard is through the house.
The customer thought I could get the material over the roof into the backyard, but my boom doesn’t have that kind of reach, so the only way is to take each piece of material one at a time and go through the house.
Customer: “Just behind my back fence, there’s a cul-de-sac with a little picket ball court. You could drive over to the cul-de-sac and park on the court, and then you could reach your boom into the backyard.”
Me: “Are you sure that won’t be a problem? The picket ball court isn’t private property or anything, is it?”
Customer: “It’ll be fine. If anything goes wrong, I’ll bear the responsibility.”
So, I enter the cul-de-sac, inspect the court to make sure it can handle the weight of my truck, and then pull forward and unload my order into their backyard.
During that time, a few people in the cul-de-sac come out of their houses, watching the show as I boom the order into the backyard. [Guy #1] comes up to me and talks about how amazing it is to be able to deliver something like that while not having to do it by hand.
Everything goes without a hitch, and I fold my boom back up to its driving position as the customers write me a check.
There is a little discrepancy with the total amount, so I phone the store to find out the correct total. As I’m talking to a store worker, this guy drives up in a big pickup truck and yells at me.
Guy #2: “What the h*** are you doing?!”
Me: “I was making a delivery to the house behind the fence.”
Guy #2: “You can’t park your truck on that! That’s a brand-new court; you’re gonna f*****’ wreck it! That’s private property!”
Me: “I was following my customer’s instructions; they were the ones who told me to park here.”
Guy #2: *Still yelling* “Well, you’re gonna pay for that if there is any damage!”
The customer pokes his head over the fence.
Customer: “Calm down. I’ll be the one to fix any damage.”
Guy #2: “I don’t care! This truck shouldn’t be here!”
The next little bit is a blur because I am on the phone and everything is going from zero to 100.
I remember the customer yelling:
Customer: “Talk to me like that and I’m gonna hop over this fence and kick your a**!”
The two are just throwing obscenities at each other, threatening to kick each other’s a**es, with the customer’s family yelling at him to stop.
[Guy #1] is now standing in front of this irate guy, holding his arm out in front of him, trying to keep things from turning into a fight.
Finally, [Guy #2] gets back into his truck and drives off. [Guy #1] comes over and tries to get the customer to calm down.
Guy #1: “Pay no attention to that idiot. He lives several houses down. He shouldn’t have gotten involved. He’s one of those people who are more brawn than brains. I’m head of the community this cul-de-sac is in, and I have no problem with what you’re doing. The court is fine. It was an interesting show, though! However, if you ever need anything moved in like this again, come to me; I can give you official permission.”
Customer: “Thank you. I’m sorry for how things escalated. And I’m sorry I didn’t know you were the one to go to for permission!”
The customer and [Guy #1] then both apologize to me for what happened. I just laugh.
Me: “Hey, keeps my day interesting.”
And we all wished each other a good day.
As I was leaving the cul-de-sac, I passed the house where [Guy #2] lived; he was standing on his porch. He gave me a very low-effort, almost defeated wave, so I smiled at him and gave him a very energetic wave as I drove by.
