My parents planned to have our roof replaced, but my mother (Hispanic) decided a wall needed to go up first. Specifically, she wanted one built in the narrow gap between our house and the neighbors’, because apparently the neighbors (African American) occasionally glance in our direction and that’s unacceptable to her.
The problem is that the existing dividing wall is shared property, meaning the neighbors legally have to sign off on any changes. She doesn’t care. She never cares. She operates on a frequency entirely her own.
So two workers showed up, started pulling up tiles in that gap, and began digging into the ground to set a new wall — not over the existing one, but just inside our property line. The neighbor came out immediately and told them they were on his property. He wasn’t wrong to be upset. He left, and my mother swooped in, told the workers to ignore him, and started directing them herself like she was the foreman.
The gap is now just sitting there — half-dug, unfinished — because apparently the city has to approve something before it can move forward. The neighbor is still furious. Nothing has been resolved.
Meanwhile, the actual roofing crew came, did their work, and threw all the debris straight down into the backyard. They said they’d be done within a month. It’s been close to two months. The roof isn’t finished. The trash is still there. My dad is threatening to take them to court. My mother is serenely convinced they’ll show up any day now, and has also decided — for reasons unknown — that they’re going to paint the entire house while they’re at it.
The truly maddening part: even if they do come back, there’s no way to clear the backyard. The entrance is completely blocked by the wall construction debris — the tiles they pulled up, the dug-out dirt. Nobody thought that far ahead.
And on top of all this, I still haven’t told my dad about a trip I want to go alone this summer (WWDC). He’s already buried. This is not the moment.