Let’s Hope It Was A Clean Break
AUSTRALIA, HOME, IGNORING & INATTENTIVE, QUEENSLAND | HEALTHY | NOVEMBER 18, 2017
(Our two storey house has a lot of windows, many of them quite high up, so we use a window cleaning service. We’ve used the same guy every time. One day, he brings a coworker with him. He introduces me to the coworker, who responds to my greeting by saying curtly
Coworker: “Yeah, hi. Where are your taps? We need to get started.”
(I’m working in my home office, which is upstairs. I see the ladder resting against the side of the house and our window cleaner ascending it. He gives me a friendly smile and wave and right then, the ladder wobbles and he falls. I race outside and he’s lying on the grass unconscious. I rush into the house for the phone and as I do, I pass the coworker.)
Me: “[Window Cleaner] has just fallen from his ladder; he’s out cold! I’m calling an ambulance!”
Coworker: “You do that.”
(He doesn’t make a move to check on his colleague; he just carries on cleaning. I call the ambulance and rush back outside.)
Me: “Didn’t you hear what I said? [Window Cleaner] has had a bad fall. Why aren’t you checking on him?”
Coworker: “You just said you’d called the ambulance. What do you want me to do about it? Do you want your windows cleaned or not?!”
(I’m not about to stand there arguing with him and I rush round the house to open the gate for the paramedics and to stay with my window cleaner until they arrive. As they are assessing him he starts to come round, but is later revealed to have a broken ankle, a broken collarbone, and a concussion. After the paramedics have taken him away, I go back to the coworker.)
Me: “I think he’ll be okay. They’ve taken him to [Hospital]. Shouldn’t you follow the ambulance or let his wife know or SOMETHING?”
Coworker: *after a long pause in which he just stares at me* “That’ll be $160.00.”