Construction workers do not give a fuck about “NO PARKING” signs.

This is evident by the 100 rotating construction workers who park right beneath the “NO PARKING” sign at Stortz Tools every single day. The reason it’s no parking there is because we bring in deliveries from that door all the time, and aren’t able to do so when cars are parked there.

We’ve attempted to stop this in multiple ways.

  • Simply telling people “don’t park there” doesn’t work because when they leave the next guy comes.
  • Calling the PPA has largely not worked, as they don’t come by with any consistency.
  • An orange cone with “NO PARKING” written on it and placed in the spot has been our best idea yet.

Today, however, someone overruled the cone and moved it to the side walk so they could park there.

I went outside, angry, and said to some foreman “Is this your guy? They can’t park here. I hate calling the PPA but you guys leave me no choice, all we need is this one space to be open, that’s why the cone is there!

He gave me the usual “it’s okay, I’ll tell my guy and he’ll move“. Two hours later, the guy moved, I put the cone back in the spot, and things felt better.

THEN, the SAME CAR came back, moved the cone, and parked there again.

I came out guns blazing yelling how I just told them to not park there, called the PPA in front of all of them (I’m a snitch and I do not give one single fuck about it), then finished by saying “I hate to do it, I don’t like to be the asshole, but I don’t know what else to do because you guys don’t care“.

The guy moved his car, the cone was reinstated, but the damaged was done. 30 minutes later the PPA actually showed up and ticketed all of the cars along our front walk that were parked in the no parking zone. I was happy.

But someone apparently wasn’t happy.

This young man expressed his frustrating by VANDALIZING our cone.

Jeff said to me “Sam I think someone wrote on your cone“. Um, what. What do you mean ‘wrote on it‘? What in holy hell is going on.

I went outside to see. Lo and behold, our cone:

I had to laugh. It’s like a kid on the playground saying “I know you are but what am I” over and over. There’s no comeback to it. You just have to move on. I’d say he won the battle by owning me in front of everyone, but I won the war because he got a ticket.

Also worth noting that while this guy did get ticketed, he wasn’t the guy I singled out for moving the cone twice.

My plan tomorrow is to put the cone out with the “Eat A Dick” facing outward for everyone to see and embrace the joke. No hard feelings brother! Just respect the cone.