The Wrong Yard

I pulled up, checked the route sheet, and walked to the gate on the south side of the house. The gate was unlocked. The yard was a mess. A week's worth easy, maybe more.

I did the full sweep. Corners, shade lines, patio edge, the strip behind the AC unit. Raked the gravel in two zones. Forty-five minutes, which is long for a standard yard, but this one needed it.

I was latching the gate behind me when the homeowner at the next house stepped onto her porch.

That is my yard, she said. She was pointing next door to the home I had not cleaned—the one I was supposed to clean.

I was standing in front of the neighboring house.

The math

The gates are on the same side. Same style, same color, same latch. Both block-wall yards with DG. Both had a palo verde in the back corner. The neighboring yard happened to be dirtier and had an unlocked gate.

In hindsight, the lack of a customer note on the gate should have been the clue. But in the moment, I was already through and working before the thought even formed.

What happened next

I cleaned the actual customer's yard. That took another thirty minutes. So the stop that was scheduled for forty minutes took an hour and fifteen, and I was one yard behind for the rest of the day.

The owner of the neighboring home came outside while I was finishing next door. She looked at her freshly cleaned yard, looked at me, and said, does this happen often?

No. First time.

She asked how much we charge.

The update

The neighbor became a paying customer. She tells the story to everyone, including us, every single visit. We have heard it nine times. It gets longer each time.

The gate at the scheduled home now has a small sticker on the latch. It says SDL. The neighbor asked for one too.