As mentioned in a previous article, my brother owns a small business. It’s a nursery and landscaping business that employs just under 20 people. He struggles mightily with competition from illegal aliens and their cheap labor.
I was sitting in his office visiting with him and laughing about old times. A middle-aged man and woman entered the office, and she looked embarrassed. The man, who was evidently her husband, was not wearing a hat. If he had been wearing a hat, he’d have (as they say) the hat in hand with humility.
The lady customer meekly asked, “Do you remember us?” My brother remembered them because about a month prior he had provided them with an estimate for a landscaping project at their home.
The lady told my brother that she hadn’t called because she gave the job to “Juan”. My brother knows Juan because he often comes by to purchase landscape materials from my brother.
Juan is an illegal alien landscaper that works out of his truck. Juan has a band of illegal aliens that work for him. Juan pays his workers $7.00 per hour.
Juan under bid my brother to earn the job. Of course Juan is cheaper! Juan doesn’t pay taxes, insurance, fair wages, certifications, social security, and he has little to no overhead to run an established business!
The lady asked my brother, “Can you please come and fix and finish the job that Juan started?” She was choking back tears as she declared that she had fired Juan.
My brother agreed to take on the job, but he requested to go to their home to assess the job site and progress. My brother asked the couple, “How bad is it?”
The couple looked at each other; then they looked at my brother. She spoke up and said, “We had to call the police to get them off our property.”
Apparently, shoddy work was not the only factor. One of Juan’s workers, an illegal alien from Honduras, was watching their teenage daughter from behind the bushes. The daughter was enjoying a dip in the pool, while the Honduran was pleasuring himself.
Many illegal aliens do not grasp the concept of doorbell cameras, or any sort of security cameras, for that matter. Even if they knew, I doubt it would curtail this type of behavior.
Many illegal aliens are from rural areas of third world countries. They “handle” things differently there. I know, I went there! However, on a serious note, this is no laughing matter. This family was victimized.
My brother went to their home and surveyed the area. If you know anything about landscaping, river rock is beautiful. However, if you install it without weed barrier fabric it’s an exercise in futility. Also, the river rock did not match or complement the color of the house.
These are considerations that professional companies take into account that illegal alien teams cannot grasp. In fact, many have no imagination or vision.
The only reason these illegal aliens were able to grasp a vision was because the distraught homeowners furnished them with my brother’s design! They stole his intellectual property and work it took to prepare it.
The irrigation had to be completely gutted out and reinstalled because the back flow was not installed properly. A bad back flow would and could contaminate an entire city’s water supply. This is why ordinances exist and irrigation installers require a certification.
I could go on and on regarding all the things wrong with this project. Let’s just say that the customer had to pay more to my brother in fixing errors than the original estimate.
The old adage: it pays to do it right the first time comes to mind. These illegal aliens work hard, without question. They are cheaper, without a doubt. Talent, experience, and knowledge they don’t always possess. That comes at a price.
Mistakes in landscaping can be fixed…..for a price. The trauma of watching a sexual deviant masturbate to your daughter? What price do you put on that?
I get it, these nice folks wanted to save a buck with cheap labor. This came at a price. A price too high to pay.
