As a foreman with 20 years in construction, I’ve dealt with a lot—rain, heatwaves, supply delays, you name it. But nothing quite compares to the entitled mom who rolled into our no-parking zone like she owned the block and told me to “deal with it.” So I did. With a grin. And karma came in swinging, faster than a dropped beam on payday.
Let me set the scene.
I’m Bob. I’m 40. And I run a construction crew currently busting our backs on a house halfway up what I like to call Mount Hellscape. Technically, it’s a steep hill in a fancy neighborhood, but after hauling lumber up a dirt footpath in the July sun, it sure feels like Everest.
Our job is a logistical nightmare. No driveway, no road—just a narrow trail connecting the house site to the real world. That means every sheet of drywall, every pipe, every single nail has to be carried up manually.
The only grace? Two marked “No Parking – Tow Away Zone” spots at the base of the hill. That’s our lifeline for deliveries.
So there I am, sweat soaking through my shirt, when my guy Mike yells, “Bob! Jerry’s on the line. Lumber’s coming early.”
Jerry’s our delivery driver and a lifesaver.
“Three minutes tops,” he tells me. “Got roof trusses and the rest of the order.”
“Perfect,” I say, already walking down the path to clear the zone.
But as I round the bend—bam. A gleaming white SUV, engine idling, is parked right where Jerry needs to be. Driver’s window down just enough for me to see a woman texting.
This happens often thanks to a nearby school. Most folks move when asked. Most.
“Ma’am,” I say, walking up, “we’ve got a delivery due in minutes. This is an active construction zone.”
She looks up with the face of someone who considers rules suggestions for other people. “Relax. I’ll just be a minute,” she mutters. “Your truck’s not even here.”
Then the window slides up.
I blinked. Did that just happen?
“Ma’am, please—” I start again, but it’s too late. I hear the familiar rumble. Jerry’s truck rounds the corner, fully loaded and ready to go.
I wave him in and point at our “problem.”
Jerry leans out, grinning. “What’s the plan, boss?”
“She told us to work around her,” I said, a smile slowly stretching across my face. “Let’s do that.”
Jerry’s eyes lit up. “You got it.”
He pulled in tight—so tight his delivery truck boxed her in against a porta-potty on one side and a parked car on the other. No escape. She was officially in construction jail.
We began unloading while she fumed inside her mobile fortress, hands flailing on the phone. I called parking enforcement just to make it official.
Fifteen minutes in, her kid approached with a backpack. That’s when she realized she had to exit through the passenger door. Watching her awkwardly climb over the center console and fall out onto the sidewalk? Worth every second.
“Mommy, why are you crawling out like that?” the kid asked.
“Because THESE IDIOTS trapped me,” she snapped, straightening her blouse like she hadn’t just lost a round of SUV Twister.
Then she stormed toward us, fire in her eyes.
“You need to move your truck RIGHT NOW,” she barked.
Jerry, ever the gentleman, replied, “Can’t. Safety policy. Once the straps are off, we don’t move a loaded truck. You understand.”
She didn’t.
“This is absurd! I have places to be!”
“And we asked you to move, remember?” I added. “You told us to work around you. So we did.”
That’s when Officer Martinez pulled up behind Jerry’s truck. Clipboard in hand, she stepped out just in time to hear:
“I SWEAR, if you don’t move—”
I smiled. “Can’t you just drive around it? It’s not that hard.”
The look she gave me could melt asphalt.
But then she panicked. Climbing back into her SUV, she threw it into reverse—and backed straight into the porta-potty. The poor thing wobbled, tipped, and exploded in a geyser of blue goo.
She didn’t stop there. Slamming the gear into drive, she tried to mount the sidewalk. And got stuck. Half-on, half-off, wheels spinning like she was in a Fast & Furious audition gone wrong.
Officer Martinez shouted, “ENGINE OFF. NOW.”
She froze, just realizing she’d performed this circus act in front of a uniform.
“Step out of the vehicle, ma’am,” the officer commanded.
“I—uh—these men trapped me!” she sputtered.
“Hands where I can see them.”
“But my son’s in the car!”
“Exactly,” Officer Martinez said, already calling backup.
Ten minutes later, she was handcuffed on the curb, her rage replaced by panic. Officer Rodriguez arrived, and the full charge list unfolded: driving on a suspended license, endangering a child, reckless driving, destruction of property… the works.
As the tow truck hauled away her SUV, her son’s grandma pulled up to collect him. Judging by her exhausted expression, this wasn’t her first rodeo.
That night, sitting on a stack of trusses, sipping a Coke with the crew, we rehashed it all.
“You hit her with her own line,” Jerry laughed. “That was savage.”
“I almost felt bad,” I said.
“Don’t. She earned that encore.”
“To entitled moms everywhere,” Jerry toasted, raising his can, “May their parking karma always arrive on time.”
“And may they remember,” I added, “in construction and in life… sometimes you’re the SUV, and sometimes you’re the porta-potty.”
Everyone laughed.
And as twilight rolled over the hill, I knew one thing for sure: tomorrow, our delivery zone would be crystal clear.
Because somewhere in town, one very entitled mom had learned that ignoring the signs doesn’t mean the rules don’t apply—it just means you’re first in line for a front-row seat to your own downfall.