Dear Diana,                                2/10/19

We are having some exterior work done on our home.  Some deck repairs, a roof replacement and a new concrete walkway installed.  The company we hired is providing quality work so far.  We don’t have an issue with the way the work is being done.  Our issue is that some of the crew members are smoking on our property.  It could well be during a designated break time for them, nonetheless, we do not want anyone smoking on our property.  We have found several cigarette butts in the grass and assume they are from these guys.  Very gross!

The other challenge is that the gentleman working on our project don’t speak great English, so communicating with them is difficult.  We have tried showing them the butts we have found in the grass and they just smile and point to others in their crew.  No specific worker is taking ownership of being the smoker or smokers.  We are not trying to be pills, just would prefer them to find a different place to smoke and to leave their cigarette butts.

Your thoughts? 

Far from splendor in the grass

Dear Far from splendor in the grass,

You have a legitimate gripe. The crew members should know better and find a new location for their smoke breaks and should certainly not be littering their cigarette butts on your lawn. I’m not sure if you have already done this, but it seems like an obvious next step is to make a friendly call or send a friendly email to your contact person at this company expressing your concerns. My bet is that the company will be quick to communicate the correct protocol to their crew members. They may not even be aware that is happening.  Your gesture could not only result in your solution, but the squelching of this habit could also help others in the future who hire this crew, as well. I doubt you’d receive any flack from your gesture. My guess is the business will be very fast to accommodate and thrilled to be able to make the improvement.

Thanks for writing,

Diana