We’ve had incredibly high winds in my area today and this evening about a third of a large tree on the opposite side of my garden fence cracked off the tree and fell across my fence into my yard–half in my yard, half out. I have one of those white vinyl fences and there were large branches stuck in the fence, pushing it inward and I could see that if the winds kept up there was a very good chance the fence would collapse.
I called my condo management office emergency number to see if someone would come out and help me get the tree off the fence before it collapsed, but the guy said only things like gas leaks were considered emergencies.
I went out and started cutting off branches with my large pruners, and sawing some, trying to relieve the weight on my side of the fence. I worked for about an hour, then went on the other side of the fence and cut off everything I could off that side, but there were still large branches stuck in the fence itself, pushing inward, and there was no way I could get them out.
The whole time I was working on this, there must have been 10-15 people walk by to and from their condos and the carports. One guy even walked by me, went to his house and brought his dog out to the lawn on the other side of the fence from me–about five feet away. Not one of them said a word to me. Not one of them offered to help.
I was still really worried the fence would collapse, so I finally called my daughter and she and her fiance came right down with a power saw (I didn’t know he had one or I’d have called them first) and helped me cut off 5-6 large branches and the three of us lifted the whole thing to the other side of the fence.
What’s the matter with people today? Or was it my fault because I didn’t ask?
Yeah, rottenness seems to be on the rise among people. I was in a restaurant a while ago, and the assistant manager came by the table and took my sister aside and said insulting things about me to her.
So how bad were the insults? Sorry if I’m prying, I’m just astonished that a manager of a restaurant would do something so disgraceful. Was it a particularly post place?
Perhaps when you live in an apartment that has management that doesn’t care it just rubs off on the tenants. The only maintenance that is done in my apartment building is minimal and mostly done to prepare the apartment to rent.
The city has some interesting ways of policing the system too. Fire hazards are first responded to by evicting the tenants. Emergency work not taken care of? You can with hold rent in a separate account and all of that interest is yours to keep.
Don’t get me wrong, I have seen apartments trashed by tenants, so I can understand both points of view, But it is rare that I have seen a property have management that communicated to the renters in a way that started a relationship that helped to keep an area clean, safe, and efficient.
It is not clear from the original post whether Sue is a condo renter or owner. It does not do to muddy the situation with renter woes until that is made clear.
I would also take issue with the built-in assumption that any of the neighbours was any better equipped to deal with the situation, or that any of them felt as strongly as Sue that the situation warranted immediate action. One of my favourite pithy sayings on a desk sign was an arrow pointing to the left and a legend that said, “Please take your problem to someone who gives a …”
I’m a homeowner. Whether or not the situation demanded immediate attention is beside the point to me…the majority of the people walking by were men in their 20s and 30s. They could plainly see me, a middle-aged woman, sawing off branches, dragging them to the fence and pushing them over to the other side (against a mighty wind that was blowing them back into my face). A polite offer of assistance would have been appreciated.
I don’t know what the rules are in Utah, but here, if branches from a neighbor’s tree fall into your yard, it is your responsiblity to remove the brances, repair the fence, etc. It is NOT OK to throw the limbs across the fence back into your neighbor’s yard, even though they came from a tree that was on her property. By an act of God the limbs were blown into your yard and you now own them.
Contrary to the human indictment of the title of this thread, I have found people, by and large, to be helpful. You may need to ask for assistance. Desire for assistance may not be conveyed by body language alone.
What are the legal ramifications if I try to help you, but you did NOT want to be helped? Can I be indicted/sued just for trying to help? Can I be kept out of my own home next door with a restraining order just because I misinterpreted your desires and tried to help you cut the branches?
That’s a little far-fetched. The possibility of someone helping without asking first is even more remote than someone asking in the first place.
Doug, I live in condo project. The tree is in the common area, not a neighbor’s yard. The homeowner’s association is responsible for landscaping, damage, etc. in common areas. They will come and take care of the tree (probably cutting the entire thing down–sadly, because it gave me a lot of privacy) and haul off all the branches. It would be silly for me to say, “I’ll clean up the branches on my side of the fence (although I have no way to do that) and you clean up the branches on your side.”
Was it because of your fat? I have a relative who was asked to leave a restaurant once because she weighed over 300 pounds and broke one of the chairs. I wasn’t there, but from what I hear when she apologized and tried to sit in another one, they asked her to leave because the chairs weren’t designed to support her and she couldn’t fit in a booth.
She’s long dead, but I wonder how it made her feel.
I’ve had more than my share of tree expense this year. In January I had a large old tree removed @ $1,000. Last week I mentioned to my wife that I was concerned about the mulberry tree that had large limbs hanging over our garge, parked cars, and flower garden. The next morning my wife called out that half of the tree had fallen during the night. Now she thinks that I am psychic. Although limbs did fall on my car parked in front of the garage, most of the tree had gently fallen on the roof of the garage without really damaging the roof or the nearby arbor. I called a local handyman, and the tree was removed the next day.
I had similar concerns about a large Chinese elm tree that was right next to our house. It lost a major limb in a storm last year, and this year another limb broke off and was still hanging way up in the tree. Since the tree was showing signs of decay, had dead brances in the top, and had large limbs hanging over the house and all of the power, telephone, and cable lines to both our house and our neighbor’s house, I decided to have the tree removed. Old partially hollow trees are great for squirrels but not something that you want that close to your house. Because of it’s location, it had to be removed in small pieces. With the neighbor’s permission the worker’s were able to park the truck with the lift bucket in the neighbor’s driveway right next to the tree. A day and $1,400 later our yard sure looks different without the big tree. We will try to make some good decisions and plant new trees, perhaps better placed, for future generations.
Open mouth, insert foot. Have you not noticed that Walden has been given ample opportunity to state what it was because of, being asked directly twice, and that he chose not to say? Can’t you respect that choice (and peeplj’s, too)? Sheesh.
Dunno about Chinese elms, but European elms are famous for ‘widowmakers’–large, dead limbs that hang forever, and then suddenly fall without warning. There’s a middle english aphorism about it: Elem hateth man, and waiteth."
